CHICAGO
University of Chicago Medical Center and police are investigating whether three patients, including two who died, were somehow given insulin overdoses, officials said.
Suspicions were raised after insulin levels hundreds of times too high were found in a comatose hospital patient less than three weeks after a similar case.
“We haven’t necessarily tied it to anyone. We don’t know if it’s medical error or product integrity or defective test results,” hospital spokesman John Easton said Tuesday. “We just don’t know yet.”
All three patients were older Chicago women, treated in the same hospital wing between May 7 and June 5, Easton said. The investigation was first reported by the Chicago Tribune.
“Right now we have not been able to determine criminal intent,” said Chicago Police Department spokeswoman Monique Bond. “It’s very early in the investigation.”
Insulin is produced by the pancreas and controls blood sugar levels, which can cause serious complications including coma and death if they’re too high or too low.
