ADEQUATE CARE?

    “I did not expect my patient to be dead,” Joy O’Shea Woomer told the court under cross examination by Assistant District Attorney Randall Miller as he questioned why she had not checked for life signs from Brent Weaver every hour of the night.

     Under prior questioning by her attorney, Christopher Patterson, Woomer testified she had never stayed outside of a patient’s room – she had always stayed in the same room as her patient.

    Woomer testified that she did verbalize her concern to Carol Weaver, but she did not make an issue out of it as Weaver had previously become very upset in a phone call. 

    When pushed hard by Miller, Woomer responded that the parents could refuse certain care because a patient has the right to refuse certain medical care.  Woomer also testified that a doctor had prescribed two medical devices for Weaver which she was told by Mrs. Weaver were not used and kept in a closet.

    Woomer’s trial was not about whether she was a competent nurse or provided adequate care.  She testified the mother did not want Brent disturbed.  She had a baby monitor in the room where she stayed.  There was absolutely no expectation that Brent would die that night.

    The trial was about whether Woomer intentionally and purposely injected Weaver with morphine knowing it would cause his death.

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