RaDonda Vaught is a former Vanderbilt University Medical Center nurse on trial for the death of a patient in her care. Please continue reading this article to explore the trial details.
Authorities say, Charlene Murphey, 75, of Gallatin, died in December 2017 as a result of a prescription mistake at the hospital.
RaDonda Leanne Vaught, the former nurse suspected of causing her death, was indicted on charges of reckless murder and impaired adult abuse on Monday, and she was publicly recognized for the first time.
Gary Murphey, mistake’s son, said his mother would be sad for Vaught, regretting the fact that her error had now damaged two lives. Murphy was admitted to the hospital with a brain bleed. Vaught was sacked from the hospital in the months following Murphey’s death.
Obituary: Charlene Murphy Vanderbilt – Radonda Vaught Murder Verdict
RaDonda Vaught, a former Vanderbilt University Medical Center nurse accused of the death of a patient, listens to the opening comments during her trial on Tuesday, March 22, 2022, at the Justice A.A. Birch Building in Nashville, Tenn.
Vaught was charged with reckless murder after unintentionally giving Charlene Murphey, 75, the paralyzing medicine vecuronium instead of the sedative Versed on December 26, 2017.
The facts of Murphey’s death were first exposed in a November report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which said that if Vanderbilt did not take actions to prevent such mishaps, the federal government would suspend the hospital’s Medicare reimbursement payments.
Vaught recognized her mistake as soon as she noticed it, and the state medical board took no action against her at the time.
Vaught, according to prosecutors, made many mistakes that day and “recklessly disobeyed” her instruction.
For charges of reckless killing and maltreatment of an incapacitated adult, RaDonda Vaught risks a sentence of more than ten years in prison.
Murphey was brought to the hospital two days before for a headache and visual loss in one eye.
According to evidence, physicians ordered a PET scan on the 26th to check for malignancy, but Murphey was claustrophobic and requested medicine to ease her fear.
Vaught claims she was “distracted” when she overrode a safety mechanism on the automatic drug dispenser, which she claims failed to detect a number of red signals between the time she retrieved the medication and the time she provided it to the patient.
Charlene Murphy Wikipedia Details To Know
Charlene Murphey spent her whole life in the Gallatin area, working at the local Walmart for 24 years until retiring in 2012 due to deteriorating health.
Family relatives described her as a born-again Christian with a warm smile, a giving heart, and a passion for yard sales.
She had been married to her 80-year-old husband, Sam Murphey, for almost 50 years.
Gary Murphey, Murphey’s son, told The Tennessean that the family began urging Vanderbilt employees to reveal what was going on.
Eventually, a doctor informed them that Murphey had been given either too much or the incorrect drug.