Deseret News
Monday, March 4, 2002
Weitzel says TV did him justice
By Linda Thomson
Deseret News staff writer
The CBS show "60 Minutes" has its critics, but psychiatrist Robert
Allen Weitzel isn't one of them.
Dr. Weitzel, who has been charged with the deaths of five elderly
patients, said the TV news show aired Sunday provided excellent
information not only about his case but about the more important issue of
how vulnerable doctors are when they provide end-of-life care for patients
in pain.
"The problem has been that the lawyers and prosecutors don't really
understand medicine and are attempting to criminalize appropriate care,"
Weitzel said Monday.
But for Merlin Larsen, whose mother, Judith, 93, was one of the
patients who died, the show didn't change his mind. Larsen is convinced
that Weitzel is responsible for his mother's death.
"This was just a replay of what we've seen and heard before," Larsen
said. "It's distressing and tiresome."
Weitzel originally was charged with five counts of first-degree
murder after prosecutors concluded he had overdosed patients with morphine
at the Davis Hospital and Medical Center's geriatric-psychiatric unit.
Weitzel was convicted in July 2000 of two counts of second-degree
manslaughter and three misdemeanor counts of negligent homicide and was
sentenced to one to 15 years in prison.
But 2nd District Judge Thomas Kay threw out the conviction and
ordered a new trial after learning that prosecutors had not disclosed an
expert witness, University of Utah professor Perry Fine. Weitzel's defense
attorney argued that testimony from Fine, an end-of-life care specialist,
could have benefited Weitzel's case because Fine had told prosecutors that
his examination of patient charts showed no criminal behavior on Weitzel's
part.
On the TV show, Fine said Weitzel's case could cause doctors to
"pull back" when treating people in pain and that patients would suffer
needlessly.
On the TV show, Ira Byock, director of a program examining
end-of-life care, said these patients had obvious physical problems: "If
you look at these charts, several of them had lost large amounts of
weight. One of them, I think, clearly had pneumonia on admission and was
clearly dying. These are somewhat common conditions that people die of."
Linda Finke, president of the International Society of Psychiatric
and Mental Health Nursing and End-of-Life Care, agreed. "These people were
clearly in agony. The nurses have recorded how, over and over again, they
were moaning, they were groaning. Some of them were even saying they were
in pain," she said.
However, Elizabeth Bowman, who previously worked as a nurse and as a
former assistant Utah attorney general was on the prosecution team, said
elderly people do not feel pain as much as others so the painkillers
Weitzel prescribed were not necessary.
"If you or I have a broken bone, we're very likely to be in a great
deal of pain," she said. "An elderly person can have a fracture and not be
aware of it."
Weitzel said it's true that elderly people do feel pain differently
but they feel pain nonetheless.
"We look a them and they look like they're suffering," Weitzel said.
"And these people, these lawyers and so-called experts, just brush that
off and say, 'Oh, that's just anxiety,' or, 'No, they weren't in pain,'
or, 'It could have been something else.'
"If they look like they're in pain, you ought to treat the pain.
It's heartless and it's wrong to refuse to take care of people at the end
of their life," Weitzel said.
However, Larsen said that although his mother had become noisy and
uncontrollable as far as her mind, her body was sound.
He and his siblings were told that she could not be admitted to the
Davis program unless she was in good physical health, and she was moved
there for short-term psychiatric help to get her mentally well enough to
go back to a nursing home. She was not there to receive end-of-life care,
Larsen said, and during Weitzel's trial lawyers cunningly switched the
focus from homicide to end-of-life issues.
Larsen also is disillusioned with the criminal-justice system, with
its delays and apparent mistakes. "It's a disgraceful distortion of the
justice system," Larsen said of the Weitzel case.
Weitzel said he understood Larsen's distress. "What I want to
express is that it's a real shame the way the prosecution has seriously
twisted these folks' understanding of their relatives' last days. I
completely understand that they're angry and hurt. I just hope that some
day they come to realize that in fact their relatives received appropriate
care and that they've been misled."
Weitzel has rejected prosecutors' offer of a plea bargain to plead
guilty to five counts of negligent homicide.
"I am not the kind of person who hurts patients and will never plead
guilty to anything (regarding) hurting patients. That would be a real
travesty," Weitzel said.
Deputy Davis County Attorney Steve Major said he wasn't surprised by
the TV program.
"It's the same story he's been giving out over and over again,"
Major said, adding that prosecutors have no problem with doctors giving
proper end-of-life care but believe Weitzel put otherwise healthy elderly
people into life-threatening situations.
"The show didn't delve into the medical records of the patients
prior to these people arriving at the hospital," Major said. "They came
into the hospital relatively healthy."
© 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company
Many have asked where they can contact Ms. Elizabeth Bowman, the nurse/prosecutor featured on 60 Minutes. For your convenience:
Elizabeth A Bowman
Rasmussen & Miner
42 Exchange Place
Salt Lake City, UT, 84111
Voice Telephone: (801) 363-8500
There is no e-mail address.