Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 17, 1993 TAG: 9303170039
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: YAKIMA, WASH. LENGTH: Medium
MASSACRE SURVIVOR DIES AT 82
A woman who survived what is believed to have been the nation's last massacre of Indians died more than 80 years later after being given the wrong medicine at a nursing home.At least three investigations are under way into the Dec. 19 death of 82-year-old Mary Jo Estep, who received no treatment after the Good Samaritan Health Care Center staff realized the error.
Estep was a member of the Shoshone Mike band of Bannock Indians, who refused to give up their nomadic ways to settle on a reservation. In 1911, her parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles - eight people in all - died when they were ambushed by a posse near Winnemucca, Nev.
Four children survived the three-hour battle, but all but one died of tuberculosis within a year. Estep was raised by whites and became an elementary schoolteacher.
The Washington Department of Social and Health Services' investigation hasn't determined whether the medication error was the direct cause of death, agency spokesman Gordon Schultz said.
The department's report has been referred to the county prosecutor's office for a decision on criminal charges, and the death also is being investigated by police and the county medical society.
The report says Estep was accidentally given three doses of medication - two for hypertension and one for heart problems - intended for another resident. The nursing home was fined $2,500 last month.
The mistake was discovered within a half-hour, but no corrective measures were taken because Estep had signed a directive barring extraordinary measures to keep her alive.
The forms don't address treatment of reversible conditions, the report says, and nursing home officials say they are re-evaluating them.
Estep was told of the mistake, but not the severity of her condition or treatment options, the report said.
She remained alert much of the day, but died about 11:30 p.m.
Earlier that evening, the report says, a nurse who had power of attorney in Estep's health matters called the woman's physician, but he refused to take the call. Shortly after that, the nurse declined the center's offer to take Estep to a hospital.
Keywords:
FATALITY
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.