Richard Mabry - Medical Error

"The bank officer said she would check and see what she could do."

"She probably wants you to file a police report before she takes action. We can take care of that."

Ross picked up the phone and dialed, wondering if he'd go to this much trouble if the client across the desk were a sixtyyear-old farmer wearing jeans and a flannel shirt instead of an attractive redhead whose green eyes seemed to hypnotize him every time he looked into them.

The day was nice, so they walked the dozen blocks from Ross's office to the police station. It seemed to Anna that the closing of the heavy outer door extinguished not just the sunlight, but all traces of hope. Both the walls and the mood of the building were gray. All around her were men and women engaged in a struggle, some of them trying to preserve their liberty while others tried to deprive them of it, perhaps even of their lives.

Anna fidgeted in her chair. She wondered if the police deliberately chose chairs for their interview rooms that would provide maximum discomfort to the suspects sitting there. Beside her, Ross Donovan crossed his legs after carefully hiking up his pants leg to preserve the crease in his gray pinstripe pants. His jacket was unbuttoned, showing a blue Oxfordcloth shirt and striped tie. He showed no signs of nervousness, but then again, this was his natural environment. Put him in an operating room, and he'd be sweating like she was now.

Anna started to rise when the two detectives walked into the room, but she stopped when Donovan touched her lightly on the shoulder. Don't show any respect for them. He'd warned her to volunteer nothing and to look at him before answering if there was any doubt in her mind about the information involved.

As usual, Dowling's expression was one of boredom mixed with cynicism, while Green nodded coldly at them and took a seat across the table. Dowling, a marked contrast with his partner in skin color and physique, reached across the table and shook hands with Anna and Ross before seating himself beside his partner. Well, if they were going to play good-cop, bad-cop, the two men were continuing in the roles they'd already established.

Dowling began. "Doctor, we appreciate your coming in. I'm sorry to hear about your accident. How's the head?"

"I'm fine, thank you," Anna said.

"My client has suffered a concussion," Donovan said. "I'm sure you know that for several days afterward the thought processes can be muddled. Let's be sure to get that on the record."

"We're not on the record, yet, Counselor," Green said with a scowl. "But since you bring it up, let's do that, if you don't mind." He reached to the middle of the table and punched the button on a tape recorder. "This is a record of the interview with Dr. Anna McIntyre by Detectives Lamar Green and Burt Dowling. Also present is Ross Donovan, attorney for Dr. McIntyre. Doctor, do we have your permission to record this interview?"

Anna looked to Donovan, who nodded. "Yes," she said.

"Doctor," Dowling said, "We have previously asked you about numerous illicit prescriptions for large amounts of the narcotic, Vicodin, that have circulated in the community, all of them bearing your signature and Drug Enforcement Agency number."

"Wait a minute," Donovan said. "The prescriptions bore the forged signature of my client."

"Sorry," Dowling said, although his expression didn't show it. "They were signed with the name of Dr. McIntyre." He paused, apparently waiting for a comment, then continued."Doctor, you have denied writing those prescriptions. Would you like to change your statement at this time?"

"No. I didn't write them," Anna said.

"And if we put you under oath?"

"I'd still deny writing them."

"Okay, we won't swear you in at this time, but we may come back to that," Dowling said.

Green fixed Anna with a stare. "Doctor, how well did you know Eric Hatley?"

The sudden shift in subject caught Anna by surprise. "I didn't know the man. I'd never seen him until he was on the operating table."

"And you maintain that his death was an accident?"

"It was the result of a massive allergic reaction to a medication administered during his emergency surgery," Anna said.

"Doctor, why would you administer such a dangerous drug to the patient?"

Anna leaned across the table, trying to drive home her point."The drug wasn't dangerous. It was Omnilex, a potent antibiotic prescribed and administered quite safely every day. It was necessary to give it because Mr. Hatley had been shot. Bowel contents spilled into his abdominal cavity. Without antibiotic treatment, he could have developed peritonitis and died."

Green shuffled some papers until he came to what he wanted. "This is the death certificate for Eric Hatley. The cause of death is listed as-" He squinted at the paper. "Is shown as anaphylaxis due to allergic reaction to Omnilex. Do you agree with the pathologist, Dr. ..?" Green squinted again. "Dr. Valentine?"

"Yes. I discussed the case with Dr. Valentine before he rendered a final cause of death. I agree with his diagnosis."

"So why would you give Omnilex to a man who was so allergic to it?" Green asked.

Anna wondered where this was going. She glanced at her attorney, who gave a slight shrug. Apparently, he was as surprised as she was that they were going over this yet again."We checked the hospital records and found a prior visit for a patient with the same name, date of birth, and other identifying data as Eric Hatley. At that time, only a few weeks earlier, he had been given Omnilex and suffered no adverse effects."

"Let's talk about that drug," Dowling said. "You knew that if Omnilex was administered to a patient who was highly allergic to it, the result could be a fatal reaction. Is that correct?"

"Of course. The same can be said of almost any drug."

Dowling's voice was calm, but his words made Anna's stomach clench. "And you didn't know Eric Hatley, had never heard him mention his allergy to that drug, had no reason to try to kill him?"

"Of course not!"

Green dug into his pocket and came out with something he held clenched in his huge fist. "Doctor, I submit to you that Eric Hatley was one of the many people who looked to you for illicit drugs. But he got nervous about it and was about to go to the police and expose the whole setup. You arranged for Hatley to be shot, but the assailant missed. Instead of killing him, he hit Hatley in the abdomen. When he showed up in your operating room, you decided to finish the job by giving Hatley a dose of an antibiotic to which you'd already learned he was highly allergic. I submit to you that you are guilty of the murder of Eric Hatley."

Anna felt her temper rising to the top. Where was this coming from, anyway? "That's ridiculous. You have nothing to suggest there's even a shred of truth in that accusation."

Green flashed perfect white teeth and opened his fist, allowing a pill vial to drop onto the table. Donovan picked it up, looked at it, and handed it to Anna, a stunned expression on his face.

Anna's hand, normally steady under the greatest stress of the operating room, trembled slightly as she took the vial and read the label. "Eric Hatley. Vicodin ES tablets. #100. Take one tablet every four hours for pain. Dr. A. McIntyre. Two refills."

She hardly heard Dowling's voice droning, "You have the right to remain silent…"

It took a few seconds before instinct and experience made Ross Donovan move. He was pleased that years of alcohol hadn't erased those reflexes. Dulled them a bit, maybe, but they were still there. And this seemed the way to go.

Ross leaned toward Anna and whispered in her ear, "Don't say another word. Don't even acknowledge the Miranda warning."

She turned toward him, her eyes wide, and opened her mouth. He touched his lips with his forefinger and shook his head.