Episode 3 — Muscle Relaxants
At some point in time most people visit a hospital. You go with the thought that they will help, that it is a safe place. But, no one expects to go, and be murdered.
By 1943, muscle relaxants established a position in the practice of anesthesia and surgery. But, they are very powerful. They can have negative side effects, and be very addictive. Succinylcholine is used in surgical, anesthetic, and other procedures in which a brief period of muscle relaxation is called for. And, succinylcholine was Genene Anne Jones’ weapon of choice.
Jones was a nurse in a small-town pediatric clinic. It is estimated that She is responsible for the deaths of between 11 and 46 infants from 1978 and 1982.
In 2006, a 27-year-old German nurse went on trial in connection with the deaths of 29 patients in the biggest case of alleged serial killing in Germany since the second world war. Stephan Letter killed at least 17 women and 12 men, aged from 40 to 94. He rendered patients unconscious with a sedative before finishing them off with a muscle relaxant.
If you want to know more, the sources used in this episode can be found below. As always, my script and sources are below, and thanks for reading.
-Megan
https://www.spine-health.com/treatment/pain-medication/muscle-relaxants
https://www.drugbank.ca/drugs/DB00202
http://abcnews.go.com/US/nurse-suspected-killing-46-kids-prison/story?id=19852141
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/feb/08/germany.lukeharding
https://www.webmd.com/back-pain/do-i-need-a-muscle-relaxer
