Jul 23, 2009 11:55 pm US/Pacific
State Moves to Revoke SF Hospice Nurse's License
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) ―
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California Pacific Medical Center.
CBS5
The state's vocational nursing board filed a formal accusation against a San Francisco hospice nurse Thursday and moved to revoke or suspend her license.
The nurse, Betsi Bilyck, worked at the Coming Home Hospice operated by California Pacific Medical Center.
The board's action came in the wake of a CBS 5 Investigation into complaints by a woman who said her mother's death may have been hastened by the actions of the nurse. Sylvia Forsmann filed suit after her mother, 81 year old Leah Forsmann, died at Coming Home Hospice in June of 2006.
"I felt in my heart that this nurse was trying to kill my mother," Sylvia Forsmann said.
The nurse, Betsi Bilyck, later admitted to breaking the law in a sworn deposition taken as part of Forsmann's lawsuit. She said she acted unlawfully when she "gave more Atropine than was ordered" by Leah Forsmann's doctor.
Bilyck claimed during deposition that she gave the drug to "alleviate (Forsmann's) suffering" so the elderly cancer patient would die a peaceful death.
But Stanford medical ethicist David Magnus told CBS 5 Investigates the vocational nurse's actions were inappropriate.
"That's unethical, illegal, inappropriate, anything you can think of," Magnus said.
On Thursday, California's Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians, which licenses vocational nurses, filed to revoke or suspend Bilyck's license.
In the filing, the board accused Bilyck of gross negligence, incompetence and unprofessional conduct, in part for giving two drugs, atropine and oxyfast, to Leah Forsmann "in excess of (her) physician's orders."
The board also accused her of falsifying records, saying Bilyck "re-wrote a portion of (Forsmann's) medical record and placed it in (her) file as the original."
And California's Department of Social Services, which regulates Coming Home Hospice, also sent an order to Bilyck telling her that her presence at the hospice, or any other facility, "constitutes a threat to the health and safety of the clients in care". Bilyck is therefore currently "not allowed to be physically present in any facility."
"I am grateful that something is finally being done," said Sylvia Forsmann.
It's action that's been a long time coming. Leah Forsmann died at Coming Home Hospice in June 2006 and her daughter filed complaints with state agencies in the months thereafter.
"I find that I'm being vindicated on some level, that people are starting to pay attention, and I am sure that part of it has to do with the fact that (CBS 5) brought it to the public's attention," said Forsmann.
As of June 8, CBS 5 Investigates found Bilyck was still working at Coming Home Hospice.
A CPMC spokesman said Bilyck is still employed by the hospital but is on leave. He said the decision to put her on leave was made prior to the department's order.
An attorney for Bilyck did not respond to requests by CBS 5 for comment. Bilyck can appeal the state agencies' decisions and if she does, an administrative law judge would hear the case.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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