Nurse Allegedly Poisons 21 Patients, Kills 3 By Increasing Dosage Of Doctor’s Prescription

The 49-year-old Victorino Chua

A staff nurse had allegedly poisoned 21 patients in a hospital which led to the death of about three of the victims after she intentionally altered the dosages on the prescription charts given to her.

The 49-year-old woman, Victorino Chua from Filipino committed the wicked act at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport where she worked as a staff nurse since 2009 in Manchester, United Kingdom.

Chua was arrested and charged with murder after contaminating saline bags and ampoules with insulin.

The court learnt that 21 patients suffered as a result of the wicked act while three of them, 44-year-old Tracey Arden, 71-year-old Arnold Lancaster and 83-year-old Derek Weaver eventually died.

Chuan pleaded not guilty to 36 charges in all, including the three alleged murders, one count of grievous bodily harm with intent, 23 counts of attempted grievous bodily harm, eight counts of attempting to cause a poison to be administered and one count of administering a poison.

The alleged offences were committed between June 2011 and January 2012.

During the hearing in the court, the prosecutor, Peter Wright QC said a “pattern” began to emerge which led to the identification of the killer after a massive police investigation.

He said, saline bags and ampoules were “contaminated with insulin to then be used by other unsuspecting doctors and nurses on innocent patients.”In the vast majority of cases, the poisoner seems to have contaminated products or altered prescription dosages completely at random.

“It was therefore a lottery as to who was treated with contaminated products and who was not.”

44-year-old Tracey Arden, 71-year-old Arnold Lancaster and 83-year-old Derek Weaver eventually died from the poisoning. 

“The pieces of the forensic jigsaw began to emerge. The person responsible for each of these matters became increasingly clear.

Meanwhile, there is increased security in the various wards of the hospital while Chuan continues to face his trial which would perhaps last for about four months.