Hospital Operator Investigating Patient’s Death

FHP Inc., the health care organization that operates FHP Fountain Valley Hospital, has launched an internal investigation of the events leading up to the mysterious death of a patient last November, company officials said Wednesday.

Fountain Valley police revealed Tuesday they are investigating FHP and a nurse who formerly worked for the company about about their role in the death of Francis J. Johnson, 74, who was admitted to the hospital for respiratory problems on Nov. 13, 1989, and died the following day.

The death certificate, written by an FHP staff doctor, listed the cause of death as “mestastic breast cancer,” but police now believe that the woman actually died because an FHP nurse administered the wrong medication to her.

A Fountain Valley police spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday that the nurse, Maureen Daubert, lost her license shortly after the incident but he did not know if it was related to the death of Johnson.

Police are also investigating the preparation of the death certificate, but no physicians have been targeted in the inquiry, according to Steve Williams, a Fountain Valley police investigator.

“This has all caught us somewhat off guard,” Anna Marie Dunlap, a company vice president, said Wednesday. “We’ve assigned a couple of people to investigate it, and we plan to have a statement tomorrow or Friday.”

Daubert no longer works for FHP, but company officials will not say whether Daubert was fired or whether she left on her own.