Hospital is focus of probe

Authorities want to find out the circumstances behind a medication error.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- Police, the district attorney and the FBI are trying to determine if several patients at Sharon Regional Health System became ill as a result of criminal conduct.
Capt. Michael Menster said Tuesday that the hospital called police around 6 p.m. Sunday to assist in the hospital's investigation into what was described as "a medication error."
Authorities want to find out how that error occurred and if any criminal intent was involved, he said.
Sharon Regional issued a terse statement Tuesday saying that it is "investigating circumstances that may have caused a decrease in blood sugar levels in four patients."
Said patients are OK
The hospital offered no specifics but said all the patients are doing well.
The statement also commended nurses and physicians "who, through existing protocols, quickly recognized the situation and promptly responded."
It went on to say that administrators are continuing to analyze the situation to determine the cause of the problem and have implemented processes to maintain a safe patient-care environment.
The statement didn't reveal the nature of those processes, however.
Menster said Sharon Regional is cooperating with authorities in the investigation.
He declined to reveal any details of the case.
Police called in the district attorney's office and then the FBI and the federal Food and Drug Administration because of the possibility of violation of federal statutes, he said.
James Epstein, Mercer County district attorney, said the FBI is an active participant in the investigation.
The probe is examining what caused the patients' blood sugar levels to drop, he said. Authorities plan to determine if criminal conduct caused the condition and, if so, to arrest and prosecute the person or people responsible, he said.