Who is Heather Pressdee? Lawsuit alleges Pennsylvania nurse who murdered 2 patients with insulin overdose caused another death
LOWER BURRELL, PENNSYLVANIA: The family of a victim who died in a nursing home in Pennsylvania has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a registered nurse who is already slapped with charges related to murder and other charges for giving lethal doses of insulin which claimed the lives of two patients and hospitalized a third.
The family of Marianne Bower, 68, filed a wrongful death lawsuit this week claiming Heather Pressdee, 41, gave her an overdose of insulin, causing her death on September 28, 2021, CBS News reports.
What did the lawsuit allege?
The lawsuit alleges that the administrators at Belair Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, where Pressdee worked, knew about her “alarming history of resident abuse” at her earlier jobs where she exhibited “abusive tendencies and behavior toward residents and staff,” the lawsuit alleges.
The suit further states that Pressdee’s pattern of behavior and dramatic deterioration of residents was so troubling that several Belair Healthcare and Rehabilitation nursing staff members called her “The Killer Nurse.”
The lawsuit claims that the administration was fully aware of these rumors but still did not take appropriate action in investigating Pressdee and disciplined and threatened to fire the nurses who discussed Pressdee’s care.
“To allow her behavior with patients to go unchecked despite multiple concerns from staff is unconscionable. No one who trusts a facility with their loved one’s care should ever have to experience what Marianne Bower’s family is going through,” said Robert Peirce & Associates Managing Partner Rob Peirce in a statement.
Guardian Healthcare said in a statement that Belair has hiring policies designed to vet the qualifications and background of potential employees.
They said they take their full accountability and do not employ anyone who has the potential to intentionally harm one of their residents.
“Our deepest sympathies go out to the families that have been impacted by Heather Pressdee’s actions and behavior, especially Ms Bower’s family,” the statement said.
“While we cannot comment extensively about Ms. Bower’s residency at Belair due to privacy laws and pending litigation, our top priority is always to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our residents and to employ qualified, caring staff to deliver the care our residents deserve,” the statement added.
When was Heather Pressdee charged?
Pressdee was charged in May in the deaths of two men, aged 55 and 83. The third victim, 73, survived after emergency hospitalization, prosecutors said. The identities of the victims have not been revealed.
According to a new release from Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry, Pressdee faces charges of murder, criminal homicide, attempted murder, aggravated assault, neglect of a care-dependent person, and reckless endangerment.
“The allegations in this case outline the callous abuse of incredibly vulnerable patients by a professional nurse,” Henry said.
“As the charges indicate, these were deliberate acts perpetrated by a caregiver who was trusted to care for these victims. Be assured, my office will zealously pursue justice for the families of those who were killed, as well as the third victim who is fortunate to have survived,” he added.
What did the investigators say?
According to the investigators, the victims were under Pressdee’s care when they received overdoses of insulin. The two victims lost their lives on December 4 and December 25 respectively last year.
The surviving victim was administered a potentially lethal insulin dose on August 31 last year, prosecutors said. Two of the three men were not diabetic, officials said.
What did the defendant say?
Authorities said that Pressdee claimed she intentionally did it to stop their suffering. Pressdee said “she felt bad for their quality of life, and she had hoped that they would just slip into a coma and pass away,” the criminal complaint said.
She allegedly claimed the survivor, who was in Covid-19 isolation and having a difficult time, asked her to take his life.
Pressdee does not face criminal charges in Bowers’ death. When she was admitted to the facility in March 2020, Bower had multiple sclerosis and Pressdee was allegedly her nurse, the lawsuit stated.
Marianne Bower was initially believed to have died of respiratory arrest
Bower was initially believed to have died of respiratory arrest. However, the victim's family attorneys said in court documents that last month, an agent of the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office said Pressdee confessed to administering an “exogenous injection of a lethal dose of insulin” to Bower. Her family's lawyer said Bower didn’t have diabetes.
Pressdee remained employed at Belair Healthcare and Rehabilitation until February 2022 after which she was terminated for “exhibiting abusive behavior towards residents and other staff.”
The state suspended her license indefinitely in July because she was charged with criminal offenses and “is an immediate and clear danger to the public health and safety.”