LUFKIN, Texas—A former DaVita Lufkin nurse charged with allegedly injecting bleach into dialysis patients bloodlines has posted a $500,000 bond and has been released from jail, according to a report from the Lufkin Daily News.
Texas state and federal health officials were notified in late April 2008 about a cluster of four patient deaths at the Lufkin clinic, which was closed as a result. DaVita said that it had been looking into complications at the unit earlier that month. An investigation found that the clinic recorded 19 patients deaths in a five-month period that ended that April.
A break in explaining the cluster of deaths came when two patients in the Lufkin clinic told senior staff that they saw Kimberly Saenz, 35, injecting bleach into bloodlines. The affected patients were sent to the hospital and Saenz was sent home and fired. As a result, the clinic’s 130 patients were bused to other dialysis clinics for care.
On April 1, Saenz turned herself into the Angelina County jail after a grand jury indicted her with capital murder for the death of five patients and aggravated assault for five other patients. She spent seven days in jail after posting a $500,000 bond.
Saenz, a former licensed vocational nurse at the Lufkin, Texas, DaVita clinic, could face the death penalty if convicted.
