Jennifer Hall, a former respiratory therapist at Chillicothe, Mo.-based Hedrick Medical Center, was initially arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder. In April, Ms. Hall took a plea deal for two counts of first-degree involuntary manslaughter and one count of second-degree assault.
According to KCTV, Ms. Hall was sentenced Aug. 18 to 18 years in prison with the possibility of parole.
Ms. Hall pleaded guilty in the deaths of Fern Franco, 75, and David Wesley Harper, 37, who were among nine people who died under what charging documents describe as “medically suspicious” events at Hedrick Medical Center in 2002, according to the report.
Prosecutors had said an autopsy revealed morphine and succinylcholine, a powerful muscle relaxer, in Ms. Franco’s system, although her physicians had not ordered either drug.
Ms. Hall worked as a respiratory therapist at the hospital from December 2001 until she was placed on administrative leave the following May. During that time, the hospital saw 18 cardiac arrests or “Code Blue” events. Previously, the hospital recorded about one annually.
Prior to her guilty plea, Ms. Hall had denied involvement in the patients’ deaths, according to the report.
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