And now, from the "Idiocy is a terrible disease" files and Yahoo! News

Sudiegirl sez: OK, this has got to be another one of those "Do'h!" things. I mean, come on! What kind of goofball (or in this case, the plural) would even dream of endangering older people's lives just to get back at someone else? How dumb is that? So on I go, making snotty comments as is my wont...


Nurse's Aide Sentenced in Laxatives Case
Tue Aug 2, 4:26 PM ET

MEDINA, Ohio - A former nurse's aide was sentenced to 10 months in prison Monday for conspiring with another nurse to give nursing home patients laxatives to make them sick. (It's funny on a sitcom, but not in real life, you know?)

Susan Mejak, 39, conspired with co-worker Kim Koah, a former nurse (thank GOD), to give five patients milk of magnesia, which caused them severe diarrhea and dehydration, according to court records. The idea was to get back at a nurse on the next shift with whom Koah had a disagreement. The nurses on that shift had to deal with the after-effects of the laxatives. (Oh, how mature! As Joan Rivers says, "Oh, Grow UP!")

"I'm ashamed and embarrassed," Mejak said. "I didn't try to talk her out of it. I was scared and didn't know what to do. She was my friend and my supervisor. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. " (Well, maybe milk of magnesia could have gotten you out from between the rock and hard place too, but you wasted it on someone else!)

Mejak pleaded no contest to five counts of patient abuse last month in Medina County Common Pleas Court. Koah is serving a 10-month sentence on the same charges. Both worked at Willowood Care Center in Brunswick, about 18 miles south of Cleveland. (Note to future powers of attorney for me: DO NOT SEND ME THERE!)
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Information from: The Plain Dealer, http://www.cleveland.com

Sudiegirl's final word?

OK, as I've learned from discussing the topic with another member of the health industry, you can't paint everyone with the same brush or believe anything you read. But apparently, she pled "no contest" (which is really legally vague), and her colleague is serving time too. Plus, they used innocent people who relied on them for help and special care to torment another person that probably didn't deserve their time and attention, you know? It really makes me worry about the kind of care my parents will get, and I can tell you I will do everything I can to work with my sister (who is TOP NOTCH at stuff like this) so our parents don't have to suffer like these patients did.

Scary stuff, indeed!