Justice OKs Exhuming of Bodies in Texas Hospital Deaths Inquiry
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WICHITA FALLS, Texas — A justice of the peace Wednesday said authorities could exhume the bodies of at least 12 people to see if they were given lethal doses of a drug while being treated at a hospital.
A twofold increase in patient deaths at Nocona General Hospital in December and January prompted the probe. Authorities want to know whether more than 20 patients in all may have received lethal doses of mivacurium chloride, which is used to stop breathing while breathing tubes are inserted.
Several vials of the drug were reported missing from the hospital in late January. An order signed by Justice of the Peace Roger Russle on Wednesday allows authorities to look for traces of it in the bodies.
No one has been arrested, but authorities say they have a suspect who likely acted alone.
Dist. Atty. Tim Cole said the exhumations will be conducted within the next 30 days. The Texas Rangers and FBI are among those investigating.
Nocona General Hospital is the only medical facility in Nocona, an agriculture and oil town of about 3,100 people about 50 miles east of Wichita Falls.
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