Italian police said Thursday that they have
arrested a 55 year old nurse on suspicion of
killing 13 patients, mostly in their 80s, who
underwent surgery in a state-run hospital in
Tuscany.
Most of the patients suffered severe
hemorrhaging during the procedures and
investigators later determined that each had a
level of anticoagulant in their bloodstreams up
to 10 times the recommended dose,
investigators told a news conference.
None of the patients was terminal at the time of
the surgeries, which included a routine operation
for a broken femur, they said.
A special health division of the Carabinieri state
police launched the investigation last June after
noting statistical anomalies in the anesthesia
and reanimation department of the state-run
hospital in Piombino, a coastal city 43 miles
southwest of Florence.
The deaths occurred from January 2014 through
mid-2015, with the patients ranging from their
60s to 80s.
The nurse was the only person present for all of
the surgeries, was transferred to another
department when the investigation was
launched, authorities said. She was arrested
Wednesday evening at her home in Pisa.
Police said they had no motive, but that the
nurse had previously been treated for
depression. She had worked for about 20 years
in the department.
Source: AFP
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