Nurse killed 38 patients

Italian nurse Daniela Poggiali accused of
killing 'up to 38 patients because she
found them annoying'
An Italian nurse is being held on an
alleged murder charge after one
suspicious hospital death and police are
investigating more
Daniela Poggiali
Police in Italy are investigating whether a
nurse could have killed up to 38 people
who have died in hospital in suspicious
circumstances.
The nurse, Daniela Poggiali, is accused of
injecting a 78-year-old patient, Rosa
Calderoni, with a fatal dose of potassium
when she was admitted to hospital in
Lugo in the province of Ravenna with a
condition related to diabetes, according to
the Italian newspaper Libero Quotidiano .
The police inquiry is being expanded to
investigate 38 deaths, including 10 which
police have described as “very suspicious”
according to Italian media reports. Ms
Poggiali is also suspected of giving her
patients high doses of potassium because
she found them or their families
annoying, according to Libero Quotidiano .
Police said that they were investigating
whether the patients were allegedly killed
because they were too "difficult" to treat
or because the families were overly
pushy.
Alessandro Mancini, the chief prosecutor
of Ravenna, described the investigation as
"very complex".
The Corriere di Bologna newspaper also
reported that police have a phone
belonging to Poggiali, 42, contained a
photo she took of her giving a thumbs-up
next to a patient that had died. As a
result, Poggiali could face charges for
disrespecting the dead.
Potassium chloride can trigger cardiac
arrest and is used in the US for
administering the death penalty.
Police reportedly said the case was
difficult because potassium fades from
the blood very quickly.