US nurse Heather Pressdee admits to trying to murder 19 patients, police say

Heather Pressdee, 41, from Pennsylvania, has been charged with engaging in medical malpractice that hurt at least 22 of her patients, The U.S. Sun reports.

During the investigation into these crimes, Ms Pressdee admitted to trying to murder 19 patients, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Attorney Robert Peirce III, representing victim Marianna Bower, has critiqued the medical establishments that allowed Pressdee to work and says that the family is demanding answers through a wrongful-death lawsuit, according to a report by CNN.

“The goal of the lawsuit is to determine how Heather Pressdee was able to work at 11 different facilities for a year period, where it is acknowledged and admitted by her that at least 17 of her patients passed away,” Mr Peirce told CNN.

“In the Belair facility alone, four individuals passed away even though there were multiple complaints from staff members that Pressdee was killing patients. Yet … she still could work and then she went to other facilities where more patients were harmed or passed away,” he said.

The first two murder charges came in May, but after learning new details about Ms Pressdee, investigators increased the charges to two counts of first-degree murder, 17 counts of attempted murder, and 19 counts of neglect of a care-dependent person.

“Pressdee is accused of administering excessive amounts of insulin to these patients, some of whom were diabetic and required insulin, and some of whom were not,” the Pennsylvania Attorney-General’s Office said in a press release last week.

The crimes allegedly happened at five different healthcare facilities where the suspect worked near her home in Natrona Heights, Pennsylvania, a suburb about 20 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

The facilities where Ms Pressdee’s alleged crimes occurred include: Concordia at Rebecca Residence, Belair Healthcare and Rehabilitation, Quality Life Services Chicora, Premier Armstrong Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, and Sunnyview Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.

Ms Pressdee originally confessed to intentionally administering a lethal dose of medication to three patients at the Quality Life Services nursing facility, leading to the death of two men, ages 55 and 83, and the hospitalisation of a third, according to a news release.

Prosecutors believe that she typically administered the insulin during night shifts when staffing levels were low so the emergencies wouldn’t lead to immediate hospitalisation.

Ms Pressdee’s possible motive for committing the crimes remains unknown.

“The allegations against Ms. Pressdee are disturbing,” Pennsylvania Attorney-General Michelle Henry said in a recent press release.

“It is hard to comprehend how a nurse, trusted to care for her patients, could choose to deliberately and systematically harm them,” she said.

Ms Pressdee’s alleged victims were between the ages of 43 and 104.

“The damage done to the victims and their loved ones cannot be overstated,” Henry said.

“Every person in a medical or care facility should feel safe and cared for, and my office will work tirelessly to hold Pressdee accountable for her crimes and protect care-dependent Pennsylvanians from future harm.”

Ms Pressdee was arraigned on Thursday and is being held without bail at the Butler County Prison.

This article originally appeared in The Sun and has been reproduced with permission.