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“Angel of Death’s” Shadow of Claims Passes Over Glendale Hospital
By Robert Warne - March 15, 2002

A statute of limitations has kept a lid on the potential claims related to the “Angel of Death” case in Los Angeles County. There’s no question that respiratory therapist Efren Saldivar killed at least six people after authorities discovered the presence of the drug Pavulon in 20 exhumed bodies. Part of a plea bargain with prosecutors, Saldivar pleaded guilty March 13 to six counts of murder for killing elderly patients at the Glendale Adventist Medical Center.

In 1998 when police first questioned Saldivar he implicated himself in over 40 killings. But the postscript of a second confession from last year was disclosed at the hearing. Reportedly in his second confession he admitted to killing 60 hospital patients by 1994 and had “lost count” after that.

Co-workers who knew about Saldivar’s shady practices are now facing disciplinary actions by the California Respiratory Care Board. Apparently rumors circulated around the hospital that Saldivar wielded a “magic syringe.”

This case under normal circumstances would produce a backlash of wrongful death claims. But these murders didn’t happen under normal circumstances.

The killings went unnoticed because the majority of the victims suffered from conditions that made their death appear to be natural. In fact when the news first broke, authorities had to decide which patients were victimized and how many bodies they would exhume.

Mark Newmyer, spokesman for the hospital, said that only about 12 cases had been filed against the medical center. According to the Los Angeles Times he said, “The hospital has fared very well through this on all fronts, and we’re extremely grateful.”

The hospital benefited from the long delay between the onset of the investigation and the filing of charges in civil court. Because of a one-year statute of limitations, a county judge dismissed many cases since they were filed too late.

In all, five claims have been settled by the hospital. Three families of the six documented murder victims were compensated before going to trial. Although the amount they were compensated for wasn’t released, the Times reported one family received $60,000.

The hospital also reportedly settled with two families of patients whose bodies were tested, but weren’t included in the murder charges.

A suit filed in January alleged three victims were subject to elder abuse. This charge carries a three-year statute of limitations versus the one-year statute for wrongful death claims. Reportedly one of the parties involved has already settled outside of court.

When asked if that was all the hospital expected in claims, Alicia Gonzalez the hospital’s media relations consultant told adjustercom.com “That’s what we hope for.”

In Indiana a similar case in which a nurse was found guilty for murdering six patients yielded 80 wrongful death claims and drained the state’s patient’s compensation fund of $5.8 million.

 
 

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