London: British police arrested a nurse on murder charges Wednesday after three patients at the hospital where she works received saline contaminated with insulin and died.
Greater Manchester Police said they detained a 27-year-old woman. The Nursing and Midwifery Council identified her as Rebecca Leighton, a registered nurse. It said she would be suspended "as quickly as possible."
Crime scene investigators were searching her apartment.
The contamination was discovered last week after a nurse at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, northwest England, reported a higher-than-normal number of patients with unexplained low blood sugar levels.
Investigators are conducting tests to find out whether the deaths of a 44-year-old woman and two men aged 71 and 84 were caused by the sabotage. A fourth man is in critical condition, and 10 other patients fell ill but recovered.
Security has been stepped up at the hospital, 150 miles (250 kilometers) northwest of London.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, July 20, 2011, 23:42