Angels of Death: The Male Nurses share Comments Mercy or Power? Charles Cullen Charles Cullen, 43 and a male nurse, is among those healthcare professionals who apparently decided over the years that certain patients should die.� �When he was charged in two cases in December 2003, according to the Newark Star Ledger, he admitted that in the past 16 years in the 10 healthcare institutions in which he worked, he was responsible for taking the lives of 30 to 40 patients.� He was being merciful, he said, but their cases and his actions indicate otherwise.� Although he has not yet specified the names of his victims as of this writing, in the past year he dispatched almost one patient per montha rate that raises questions about his motives.� �He also confessed in a way that indicated the murders were a source of empowerment for him.� He didnt have to confess, so why did he?� Was he trying to tell those with whom he has worked, See what I got away with all that time? Reverend Florian Gall Cullen has been charged with the murder of Reverend Florian Gall at the Somerset�Medical Center in Somerville, New Jersey, and the attempted murder of cancer patient Jin Kyung Han, who was saved from his overdose by an antidote but who died months later from unrelated causes.� On both, Cullen is suspected of using a lethal dose of digoxin, a heart medication, which he procured through deceptive computer manipulation from hospital supplies.� After he was fired, he was found to be the common denominator among six patients with abnormal test results. In fact, Steven Marcus, a toxicologist and executive director of New Jersey Poison Information and Education System, had warned Somerset�Medical Center in July 2003 that they had a poisoner on their staff.� He spotted a cluster of at least four cases.� Hospital officials dismissed him, says the Newark Star Ledger, and had even complained about Marcus to the states health department, saying he had rushed to judgment and was pressuring them unduly. Likewise in 2002, nurses at St. Lukes Hospital in Bethlehem, Pa., had warned the state nursing board, law enforcement, the county coroner, and even Cullens next employer that he could be a killer.� �They had seen a spike in Code Blues, reports the Morning Call, and had attempted to get a thorough investigation.� Nurses at two nearby facilities had also demanded that Cullen be dismissed and investigated.� However, hospital administrators had declined to pass the word along via a negative reference.� One nurse was even fired for her part in whistle-blowing. Three days after his arrest, Cullen became a suspect in the unexpected deaths of two more patients in Pennsylvania�hospitals, and one woman was exhumed as part of the investigation.� Another already had a toxicology report of digoxin in the blood although he had not been prescribed this medication.� The results of both cases are pending. In court at his arraignment, Cullen pleaded guilty to the charges and said he had no intention of fighting.� �He did not even want a lawyer, but in a quick turnabout accepted a public defender, who subsequently said Cullen might offer names in exchange for avoiding the death penalty. A resident of Bethlehem, Pa., Cullen is the youngest of nine brothers and sisters.� �The New York Times reported that their father was a bus driver, their mother a home-maker.� Cullen grew up in a working-class neighborhood in New Jersey, in a strongly religious Catholic family.� His father died when he was an infant and his mother while he was in high school.� Two of his siblings have also died, and he cared for one of them during the process.� In 1978, he enlisted in the Navy and when he got out, he attended a nursing school.� �By 1988, he was working at the first of many hospitals where he would stay only a short while.� He got married and had two daughters, but soon was divorced.� In 1998, says the Morning Call, he filed for bankruptcy and had a pile of debts and back payments due in child support to the tune of over $66,000.� He lost his dog to the animal protection agency, and though he seemed inconsiderate of others, he claimed he felt picked on. In 1997, signs of a troubled mind surfaced.� �Cullen was taken to a hospital in New Jersey because he suffered from depression.� He refused to provide a blood sample and afterward filed a police report against the doctor.� Just over two years later, he lit coals in a bathtub and sealed off his apartment in a suicide attempt.� A neighbor called the police and when they took him in, they learned that this was not his first attempt.� An A&E broadcast in 2004 indicated that he had threatened a former girlfriend by breaking into her home to let her know how vulnerable she was.� He clearly was troubled. As his debt mounted, he moved from one hospital to another, and at St. Lukes in Bethlehem, PA, he left to avoid an investigation into the deaths of 69 patients and into a mysterious box of heart medication found in a disposal bin.� �While the coroner determined at the time that there was no evidence of criminal conduct in any of the cases, many of those deaths will be reviewed again in light of Cullens confession.� There had been no toxicology reports on those patients and only one autopsy had been performed.� In short, it was a superficial investigation with no determination about the medications present in the bodies.� The next step, if suspicions warrant it, would include exhumations. Despite his spotty work record, Cullen never had trouble getting another job, probably due to the shortage of nurses.� �Yet he was fired outright in October 2003, amid questions concerning the death of Reverend Gall.� Now hes being investigated in seven counties across two states. Representatives from the Somerset�Medical Center said they did not know that Cullen had been investigated elsewhere.� When they checked his credentials, according to a report in USA Today, they learned nothing that would have made them hesitate to hire him.� All they received were his dates of employment.� It was at this facility where Cullen may have done his deadliest work, admitting to killing between 12-15 patients in only 13 months.� Had concerns been passed along, things would have been different, and that upsets hospital officials.� Now theyre faced with a massive investigation and damage to their reputation.� Someone, they believe, should have warned them. Healthcare Serial Killers Shipman, Harvey & Angelo � While Cullens stated motivemercy for seriously ill patients--may seem compassionate, other healthcare professionals convicted as killers have also made this claim, but a closer examination indicated otherwise.� �British physician Harold Shipman, who kindly made house calls, fed a sense of superiority as he dispatched at least 15 elderly women and maybe more than 200.� A forged will was found in his home.� Nurses aide Donald Harvey, who initially admitted to 80 mercy killings, seemed to enjoy the confessing as much as the killing.� Richard Angelo, a male nurse on Long Island convicted in four deaths, said he just wanted to feel more confident. (See more on Angelo and Harvey below.) Harold Shipman Nurses who kill perceive how to exploit the atmosphere of trust in the healthcare community and how to hasten deaths that may go unnoticed in an already vulnerable arena.� �In the past 30 years, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, there have been at least three dozen such cases in civilized societies, with more suspected.� Some enter the profession as angels of death, while others transform into killers on the job. Understandably, potential patients would like to know how to spot dangerous nurses before harm is done, but often these nurses seem like everyone else.� �They dont stand out.� Neighbors of Cullens just thought he was quiet.� Patients adored Dr. Shipman, even as he gently killed them. While arguments have flown back and forth over the Cullen case in terms of ultimate responsibility, its clear that patients must depend on hospitals and clinics to spot the red flags and do something about them.� �Too often, these killers have been allowed to drift from one hospital to another, fired under a cloud of suspicion but rarely brought to justice until after incriminating evidence has reached shocking levels.� Hospitals claim that if they pass on suspicions in a way that prevents someone from getting hired, they could be sued.� �But the hospitals where Cullen worked are discovering, says The Morning Call, that they may be sued for not doing so, and their insurance carriers are not going to cover them.� Intentional acts of murder are not considered part of professional practice, say the companies.� The hospitals, caught in a sort of Catch-22, are on their own.� If families move ahead on their threats to sue those facilities that did not voice suspicions when asked or did not warn other potential employers of Cullen, this case might become a real wake-up call. In an article for Forensic Nurse, Kelly Pyrek indicates that since the mid-1970s, there have been 36 cases of serial murder among nurses and other healthcare workers in the�U.S. � A survey shows that the incidences appear to be increasing, with 14 during the 1990s and already five since 2000. (The article was written before Cullens atrocities came to light, so that makes at least six.) Many experts speculate, says Pyrek, that healthcare has contributed more serial killers than all other professions combined and that the field attracts a disproportionately high number of people with a pathological interest in life and death.