2 nurses charged with murder in Miami juvenile jail death

[Judi Lynn]

2 nurses charged with murder in Miami juvenile jail death
By CATHERINE WILSON Associated Press Writer
January 27, 2004

MIAMI- Two nurses at a juvenile jail were charged with murder and manslaughter Tuesday for allegedly failing to treat a 17-year-old inmate who died of a burst appendix after three days in pain.

A Miami-Dade County grand jury indictment charged the women skipped examinations or falsified medical records on Omar Paisley, who spent his last days "in agony lying on a concrete bed," the panel's report said. (snip)

Paisley was jailed after pleading guilty to battery charges for cutting another youth with a soda can.

He wrote a sick form on a Saturday, June 7, saying, "My stomach hurts really bad. I don't know what to do. I cand (sic) sleep."
(snip/...)

http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/home/article/0,1651,TCP_996_2608498,00.html

[chookie]

1. What an awful story

It isn't clear why they did not treat this guy -- although it sounds like utter incompetence. Maybe mixed in with a bit of sadism in position of power to control other humans.

Appendicitis isn't the easiest thing to diagnose, but certainly should have been suspected in this case. Um -- they had a *psychiatrist* evaluating this poor kid's abdominal pain? And this guy "determined" that the kid was not as sick as he thought he might be?

Rethuglicans love to say that prisons are like country clubs. I guess they think it's okay that this poor kid died in agony, because he was "just" a criminal.

[GCP]

2. F***ing incompetents

And I say that as an RN. They deserve to be jailed for what happened to this kid.

:grr:

[Ilsa]

3. I'm on board with you, marshallplan.

Ilsa, RN

[mantis49]

6. Me too

What were they thinking?

Sherry, RN

[GinaMaria]

9. Agree

Gina RN

[Occulus]

12. This wasn't incompetance.

This was intentional torture and premeditated murder- or at least it ought to be.

Folks, people in jail are not given medical care when they need it. Their attitude was likely "you're in jail; I'm not looking at a bellyache. You don't deserve it."

[marie123]

16. how true how true

People love to talk about prisoners getting TVs or free education and the reality is these jailed people are treated like animals.

Nobody cares about them in fact I will take it a step further and say we want them eliminated. I was very close to a young man who did time. The things that took place in jail was nauseating. He watched one guy die in his cell. His liver failed and the guards thought he was faking it. Then of course he died they called an ambulance and said he died on the way to the hospital.

[Gingersnap]

4. not incompetence, but being desensitized

to the humanity of "criminals" is what is responsible for this. I have had a burst appendix (it burst in the hospital while the doctors couldn't diagnose it), the pain is nether-worldly and all encompassing. I recall hearing moans and screaming and asking the nurse who it was, she said it was me. When it got that bad I was rushed in for emergency surgery.

My point: anyone with a burst appendix would be delirious, hallucinating, writhing and moaning in pain--continuously. How could the nurses not notice? They just didn't care.

[fire1234]

5. It's bad

I remember when i used to work their, those nurses were pretty lazy. The pay they were making for being a LVN's was $20 hr. I remember calling up the nurses station and telling them they forgot to give an inmate his meds. Hours later they would show up to give them their meds. Or the best one yet was when their was a guy who had no arms and was bleeding from his stumps. But the kicker was he was diabetic. Their usual response time was always a couple of hours later. It's pathetic if you think about it but i am not surprise to hear about what happened.

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. This happened to a 6 yr old

who attended the school where I teach. She was sent home with a stomach ache on a Monday and died of a burst appendix Wednesday night. Her parents were prosecuted for severe neglect. I hope these nurses get the book thrown at them. The parents of this little girl were poor and stupid, but these nurses are health care professionals for God's sake.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

8. omg!.......these 2 nurses should be incarcerated NOW!!!! manslaughter

murder?

[Judi Lynn]

10. Update on the story.................

Posted on Wed, Jan. 28, 2004

JUVENILE JUSTICE
Jailed teen's death leads to charges
Two nurses are charged in the death of Omar Paisley, 17, who was pleading for medical attention at the Dade juvenile lockup.
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER
[e-mail]

Declaring their actions callous and ''outrageous,'' a grand jury Tuesday charged two nurses with manslaughter and third-degree murder for ignoring the desperate pleas of a dying teenager at the Miami-Dade juvenile lockup. (snip)

''When a child dies of an easily treatable illness, it's a tragedy,'' State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle said after the indictments were presented. ``The members of this grand jury agree, and they see it as far more than that. They call it a crime.''

The grand jury also rendered a blistering 50-page report, handed up at noon to Circuit Judge Judith L. Kreeger, that criticized ''the utter lack of humanity demonstrated'' by officers at the 226-bed Miami-Dade Juvenile Detention Center at 3300 NW 27th Ave. in Miami.

As the documents were delivered, grand jury forewoman Concepcion Portela dabbed tears from her eyes and softly wept. Assistant State Attorney Bronwyn Miller also was red-eyed as she hugged grand jurors.

The panel report laid bare a state juvenile justice system that, grand jurors claimed, was poorly administered, woefully underfunded, and sometimes left in the hands of officers who show little empathy or regard for the children they oversee.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/7812368.htm

The indictment:
http://www.miami.com/multimedia/miami/news/fullreport.pdf

[MisterC2003]

11. Hmmm... Jeb's state

just another example of a fish rotting from the head, if you ask me.

[veganwitch]

13. anyone noticed that

florida and texas have the shitties news coming from them???

[Judi Lynn]

14. Isn't THAT the truth? n/t

[Judi Lynn]

15. Last update: nurses surrender, go to jail

Posted on Wed, Jan. 28, 2004

Miami jail nurses surrender in boy's appendicitis death
CATHERINE WILSON
Associated Press

MIAMI - Two jail nurses surrendered Wednesday to face third-degree murder and manslaughter charges rarely applied in a medical setting over the death of a 17-year-old inmate from a burst appendix.

Gaile Tucker Loperfido and Dianne Marie Demeritte surrendered in the death of Omar Paisley, who spent his last three days behind bars "in agony lying on a concrete bed," the grand jury concluded in a report and indictment issued Tuesday.

The nurses allegedly skipped physical examinations or falsified records to indicate more than the actual number of visits. Their attorneys said they would plead innocent but had no other comment. Bail was set at $17,500.

The indictment charges the women with death by culpable negligence by allegedly failing to provide medical care to a child "that a prudent person would consider essential." They face up to nine years in prison if convicted.

Negligence is routinely claimed in civil malpractice cases, but seldom does a medical blunder turn into a criminal case, legal and medical experts say.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/7816307.htm