Crimes Committed by Healthcare Professionals Can be Prevented

Los Angeles, Calif. - infoZine - At least 90 health care providers have been prosecuted for the serial murder of patients since 1970. This is a much more serious problem than previously thought according to a collaborative, multi-disciplinary study appearing in Journal of Forensic Sciences. The prosecutions have occurred in 20 different countries, primarily in the United States and Europe. High-tech health care facilities are the most common environments. Nurses, physicians, aides and allied health care professionals have all been convicted. The statistics do not include cases of euthanasia.

"The number of suspected victims of serial healthcare killers is shocking at over 2,000 worldwide, though this study points out that these murders can be prevented with good risk management practices," says Beatrice Yorker, a nurse and an attorney, lead author of the study. The majority of murders occurred in hospitals and nursing homes.

Cases typically come to light when a cluster of patient deaths or cardiac arrests occur in a specific hospital unit and the presence of a specific healthcare provider is associated with increased patient deaths. The most frequent method used to kill patients is injection of common medications administered in toxic doses which causes heart or breathing failure.

"These data make clear that we need to focus efforts to improve patient safety on both unintentional and intentional injuries," said Kenneth W. Kizer, MD, MPH, a co-author and international expert on public health and healthcare safety.

"These cases are complicated to prosecute and we want to help hospitals and law enforcement stop killers in healthcare," says Yorker. The motives of the healthcare serial killers are complex and are being further investigated.

This research hopes to influence the hiring practices of healthcare agencies, enhance procedures for crime scene management and influence legislation that improves pharmaceutical tracking, particularly the post-mortem identification of medications.

On March 19-20, 2007, an international colloquium designed to change policies, promote safety legislation, and identify best practices for hospitals, law enforcement and licensing boards will take place at Cal State Los Angeles where Yorker is Dean of Health and Human Services. For more information on the colloquium contact

This study is published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences.

Beatrice Yorker, J.D., R.N., M.S., is Dean of the College of Health and Human Services at California State University - Los Angeles and has studied the phenomenon of healthcare workers who kill their patients since 1986.