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Patient at Alta Bates Summit Dies from Lethal Dose Allegedly Given by Temporary Nurse

By Bay City News
Monday September 26, 2011 - 11:13:00 AM

Police are investigating the death of a patient at an Oakland hospital who appears to have been given a lethal dose of medication by a replacement nurse. 

Officers went to Alta Bates Summit Medical Center at 4:05 a.m. Saturday to investigate a reported patient death, according to the Oakland Police Department. 

A preliminary investigation revealed the victim had been given a lethal dosage of non-prescribed medication, police said. 

The California Nurses Association issued a statement claiming that Summit Hospital administrators had barred regularly employed nurses from returning to work at the Oakland Summit and Berkeley Alta Bates campuses Friday after a one-day strike by 23,000 nurses at Sutter, Kaiser Permanente and Children's hospitals on Thursday. 

"We are calling on the Department of Public Health to carefully examine conditions in Sutter hospitals that have locked out RNs," CNA legislative director Bonnie Castillo said in a statement. 

A group of nurses planned to hold a candlelight vigil at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center last night at 7 p.m. The hospital is located at 350 Hawthorne St. 

The patient who died had been receiving treatment at the hospital since July, police said. 

The name of the victim was being withheld pending an ongoing investigation by the police department's major crimes division and the Alameda County coroner's bureau. 

Anyone with information regarding the case is urged to contact the Oakland Police Department at (510) 238-3821.