OAN’s Abril Elfi
12:01 PM – Saturday, November 4, 2023
A Pennsylvania nurse has been accused of allegedly administering lethal or potentially lethal doses of insulin to multiple patients, causing at least 17 deaths.
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On Thursday, 41-year-old Heather Pressdee was arraigned on two new homicide charges after she had been accused in May of killing at least two nursing home patients and injuring a third.
Pressdee proceeded to reportedly later confess to the attempted murder of 19 patients.
Pressdee’s defense attorney, James DePasquale, said the fresh accusations were not unexpected and that they are attempting to avoid the death penalty.
The most recent allegations accuse mistreatment of 19 more patients at five different care facilities since 2020.
She was charged with 17 counts of attempted murder and 19 counts of abuse of a care-dependent person, in addition to two counts of first-degree murder.
Pressdee, a resident of Natrona Heights, Pennsylvania, allegedly administered excessive doses of insulin to patients, some of whom were diabetic and others who were not.
According to state Attorney General Michelle Henry, Pressdee often provided the insulin during nocturnal shifts when personnel was minimal and the situations did not necessitate emergency hospitalization.
“The allegations against Ms. Pressdee are disturbing,” Henry said in a statement. “It is hard to comprehend how a nurse, trusted to care for her patients, could choose to deliberately and systematically harm them.”
17 of her patients, ranging in age from 43 to 104, have died, according to Henry. Not long after the initial allegations were filed, her nursing license was suspended.
Pressdee worked as a registered nurse at five different facilities, including Concordia at Rebecca Residence, Belair Healthcare and Rehabilitation (Guardian Elder Care), Quality Life Services Chicora, Premier Armstrong Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, and Sunnyview Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.
According to court documents, between April 2022 and May of this year, Pressdee wrote her mother numerous texts in which she expressed her dissatisfaction with various patients and colleagues and talked about potentially killing them. She also complained about people she met in restaurants and other public locations outside of healthcare facilities.
Documents also stated that the former nurse had a history of being “disciplined for abusive behavior towards patients and/or staff at each facility resulting in her resigning or being terminated.”
Pressdee is being held without bail at the Butler County jail.
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By: OAN
