Former Japanese Nurse Arrested for Killing a Patient After Injecting IV Drip with Feces, Then Attempting to Cover Up the Crime
A former hospital nurse in Chiba Prefecture, located on Tokyo’s eastern outskirts, was arrested on Wednesday over suspicion of killing a patient by injecting human feces into the patient’s intravenous (IV) drip and then making attempts to conceal the crime.
Officers arrested Furukawa Miyuki, 51, who was an employee of a hospital in the prefecture’s Kashiwa City at the time of the incident, as reported by NHK.
According to police, before 4 a.m. on January 30, Furukawa injected feces into an extension tube of a 75-year-old patient’s IV drip. The patient died the following day.
Police started investigating the man’s death after they received a report from the hospital that pointed out the patient’s sudden death was due to a possibility of his IV drip being tampered with.
Police believe that the cause of the patient’s death was likely to be multiple organ failure. This was apparently caused after bacteria contained in what appeared to be human feces mixed in the IV fluid entering the patient’s bloodstream.
During the investigation, a nurse told officers that after the patient’s condition declined, the nurse removed the IV tube and instructed Furukawa to retain it for later checks. The nurse noticed that at the time that the IV fluid inside appeared muddy brown. Investigative sources said the tube was later found discarded in a different area inside the hospital.
The discarded tube was later seized for investigation. The fluid inside contained what appeared to be human feces. Police suspect that Furukawa may have tried to conceal the tube so that her actions would not come to light.
Investigative sources also said Furukawa entered the patient’s room on the day of the incident despite not being in charge of him. Officers believe that she may have contaminated the IV drip within a matter of minutes. She then quit her job after the patient’s death.
The former nurse remains in police custody while prosecutors determine the next steps in the case. Under Japan’s legal system, suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
