Use of Drug Probed in Woman’s Death

State and county officials are investigating the death Sunday of a 63-year-old woman who may have received an overdose of a drug administered to stimulate her weakening heart.

According to Deputy Coroner Max Murphy, Elizabeth McKim, a Covina resident who was staying at her San Marcos vacation home, died at 6:10 p.m. at Tri-City Hospital in Oceanside after a registered nurse gave her Lidocaine--an anesthetic also used as a heart stimulant.

McKim, who had a history of heart trouble, had been taken by ambulance to the hospital’s emergency room at 7:45 a.m. Sunday.

Tri-City officials transferred McKim to the intensive care unit around noon, a report said.

McKim’s condition continued to decline and later that afternoon a nurse administered Lidocaine to regulate her heartbeat, according to the coroner’s preliminary report. McKim died about two hours later.

Hospital officials refused to comment on the case.

The San Diego County coroner’s office began an investigation of what it listed as a “suspected Lidocaine overdose” Sunday after hearing from Tri-City officials.

The state Department of Health’s local office began its investigation of the case Wednesday.

Officials say the investigation could take three months because of an extensive case backlog.

The coroner’s office said the drug has had fatal side effects in the past. In 1981, the Riverside County coroner’s office conducted a two-year investigation that led to the arrest and prosecution of a nursing home aide who, through misuse of the drug, caused the deaths of at least 12 elderly residents of the nursing home where he worked.

A Lidocaine overdose will cause an immediate reaction, the coroner’s office said. Excess doses of the drug can cause numerous fatal side effects, including seizures, heart palpitations and hypo-ventilation, said Riverside County Deputy Coroner Mickey Worthington.

Officials said the fact that Lidocaine was involved in earlier overdose investigations elsewhere will not cast a dark shadow over the Tri-City inquiry.

“We are not going to presume anything until we conduct a full investigation,” said Ernie Trejillo, director of the state Health Department’s San Diego office.