Defendant Says Doctor Gave Drug to Infant

Randy Powers, an Encino hospital technician on trial for allegedly giving a baby a near-fatal dose of the heart drug Lidocaine, testified Wednesday that it was not he but an emergency room doctor who injected the drug in the child.

Taking the stand for the first time in his own defense, Powers said he saw the doctor inject the baby with a local anesthetic that Powers believes was Lidocaine before conducting a spinal tap on her. His testimony came near the end of a non-jury trial before Van Nuys Superior Court Commissioner Alan B. Haber.

Earlier testimony indicated that Lidocaine was present in a blood sample taken from the baby more than an hour before the spinal tap was done.

Charged With Assault

Powers, 26, is charged with assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful practice of medicine and child endangering for allegedly injecting 11-month-old Sarah Mathews with a massive dose of Lidocaine while she was being baby-sat at the home of his mother, Hazel Powers, on Sept. 10, 1984.

The drug, which is used as a local anesthetic and to control an irregular heartbeat, left Sarah unconscious and in critical condition, doctors testified during the trial.

Physicians at Northridge Hospital Medical Center saved the baby’s life by performing a tracheotomy to allow her to breathe. She was released from the hospital in October and now is almost fully recovered.

Dist. Atty. Michelle Rosenblatt contends that Powers injected the baby with the drug, believing he could treat any problems that might be caused by it and would be praised for saving the girl’s life.

Suspected Insect Sting

Powers, however, testified Wednesday that he did not even know Sarah was in the house until his mother called him out of his morning shower to check what appeared to be an insect sting on the baby’s leg.

When Sarah began having seizures and stopped breathing, Powers testified, he inserted a plastic airway down her throat and administered mouth-to-mouth resuscitation before rushing her to the Northridge hospital.

“At first, I wasn’t worried and I didn’t think she was in any danger or really sick,” Powers testified to Haber. “I just thought she had a little bug bite.”

After Sarah went into convulsions, however, Powers said he told his mother to call the girl’s parents and then to call the hospital to tell them he would be bringing her in.

“On that day I was hailed by everyone in the emergency room as being a hero for having saved Sarah’s life,” Powers testified.

Los Angeles Police Detective P. J. Quartararo testified during the trial that Powers signed a confession stating that he injected the baby with the drug and stole both the Lidocaine and the syringe from Queen of Angels Medical Center in Los Angeles while he was a trainee there during the summer of 1983.

Confession Denied

But Powers denied ever confessing anything to the detective.

Quartararo “wanted me to sign a blank piece of paper,” Powers testified. “I refused to sign it . . . He kept saying he didn’t believe a word I was saying. I was in a state of shock because in my opinion I was telling the truth, but he kept interrupting me and trying to put words in my mouth.”

“Why would I save a child’s life or anybody’s life for that matter and then turn around and try to do harm to them?” Powers said he asked Quartararo.

Powers, who is free on $20,000 bail, could be sentenced to a maximum of seven years and eight months in prison if convicted. Haber indicated he would issue his verdict at the conclusion of Powers’ trial today.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Brian Kelberg, head of the district attorney’s medical-legal section, said Powers is still under investigation in connection with the deaths of at least 15 patients at two hospitals where he worked.

Queen of Angels Medical Center in Los Angeles and Sherman Oaks Community Hospital employed Powers as a respiratory therapist in 1983 and 1984, according to hospital records.

Kelberg said the bodies of several elderly patients who originally were believed to have died of natural causes at Queen of Angels have been exhumed for examination, and that records from “many, many patients” at the Sherman Oaks hospital are under review.