U. of C. hospital hit with insulin scare - Authorities call in police to probe 3 suspicious cases — 2 of them fatal

U. of C. hospital hit with insulin scare - Authorities call in police to probe 3 suspicious cases — 2 of them fatal
By David Heinzmann and Angela Rozas
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
Published July 3, 2007



University of Chicago Hospitals have asked police to investigate whether "an intentional act" caused the unexplained and overwhelming increases in insulin that apparently killed one patient and put another in a coma.

Investigators are also looking into the death of another woman who suffered from symptoms consistent with a sharp increase in insulin, although blood tests have not been completed to verify the presence of the hormone, according to hospital officials and a police source familiar with the investigation.

All three patients were elderly women being treated in the same wing of the Hyde Park hospital, all were stricken between May 7 and June 5, and none had been prescribed insulin or was suffering from diabetes, sources said.

University of Chicago Hospital officials said Monday that they are conducting a full investigation and exploring a range of explanations that include "medication error, laboratory error related to serum insulin levels, and product integrity" of medications.

But hospital officials notified the Chicago Police Department on June 22 because the insulin levels may have been caused by an "intentional act," hospital spokesman John Easton said. Police spokeswoman Monique Bond confirmed that Wentworth Area homicide detectives are investigating, but she said the investigation is in the preliminary stage.

Hospital officials say they have tightened control of insulin supplies since the incidents.

Two of the victims had insulin levels "thousands of times higher than normal levels," sources said. The third was not tested for insulin levels but was hypoglycemic at the time of her death, officials said.

Insulin is a naturally occurring hormone the body needs to convert glucose into energy. When insulin levels rise, glucose levels decrease, and extreme imbalances can cause severe damage to the brain, seizures, coma or even death.

A normal insulin level may range from fewer than 10 to 50 micro international units per microliter, depending on a person's medical condition, experts say. Two of the patients at U. of C. had readings over 2,600.

"The only way I know to get insulin that high is to inject it from a bottle," said Dr. Irl Hisch, medical director of the Diabetes Care Center at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Doctors were alerted to the problem on June 6 when they first saw a high-insulin test result, Easton said. Test results for a second victim were seen on June 14. The hospital notified police after a June 22 staff "root cause" meeting at which internal investigators could not explain the deaths, Easton said.

Ruthie Holloway, an 82-year-old North Kenwood resident, died about three weeks after being admitted to the 5 North/East wing of the hospital on May 21 for a urinary tract infection, sources said.

The day after Holloway was admitted, she showed signs of an insulin overdose and doctors ordered blood tests that placed her insulin level at 2,680, according to sources. Holloway was transferred to a nursing home on June 7, but sent back to the hospital on June 10. She died the same day.

Jessie Sherrod, 89, was admitted April 28, suffering from complications of Alzheimer's disease. She also showed signs of insulin overdose by May 7 when she displayed symptoms of hypoglycemia, but she was not tested for insulin.

She died June 6, records show. Her son Ted, a state administrative law judge, said Monday that he was unaware of the investigation, and that he believed his mother had died of Alzheimer's disease. Her son said her condition actually improved at the nursing home before she died.

A 68-year-old East Side woman who remains in a coma was admitted to the hospital on May 30, also for a urinary tract infection. Less than a week later, she had fallen into a coma and doctors noticed that she was exhibiting signs of extremely high levels of insulin. Her tests showed a level of 2,670.

Her son said Monday that he had no idea of the insulin-level investigation, although hospital officials said they have been keeping family members apprised of the situation.

Hospital official have sent blood samples from all three women to an outside laboratory for testing. But neither of the bodies of the women who died was examined by the Cook County medical examiner's office, Easton said.

U. of C. officials also notified the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Oakbrook Terrace-based Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

dheinzmann@tribune.com

arozas@tribune.com