Rise in Hospital Death Rate Puts Focus on Nurse

The death rate tripled at a hospital’s intensive care unit when a particular nurse was on duty, and police are using a detailed computer analysis to determine if that’s more than a coincidence.

Investigators believe that as many as 100 of the 130 unexplained deaths at Vermillion County Hospital in western Indiana may have been homicide.

Orville Lynn Majors was suspended last year after the hospital discovered the death rate in the intensive care unit tripled when he was on duty. But police have not charged him or identified him as a suspect in the deaths.

“It’s been a nightmare,” Majors said.

Now, with the help of a $300,000 federal grant, authorities are turning to a computer analysis to determine whether Majors could be linked statistically to the deaths, which happened over a 22-month period ending in March 1995.

The study is looking at 165 deaths at the hospital during that period, including the 130 unexplained deaths that occurred on Majors’ watch, said Vermillion County Prosecutor Mark Greenwell.

But even if the analysis points to one person as a common bond between the deaths, that alone would not be enough to build a case on, Greenwell said.

“I have to allege a patient was killed by a particular person on a particular date and can’t just say, ‘Hey, look, this person was present in 99.9% of the deaths’ and prosecute him,” Greenwell said.

The computer analysis is expected to be completed this spring.

The state Nursing Board suspended Majors’ license in December 1995, saying he failed to apprise doctors of patient conditions and exceeded his authority in one case by increasing a patient’s oxygen supply.