News / Regional
Female nurse dies of suspected drug abuse
23 Jul 2014 at 09:30hrs | Views
A female nurse at Inyathi Mission Hospital north of Bulawayo died on Sunday morning in a suspected to be medical drug abuse case, The Zimbabwe Mail reported.
Letisiwe Mutambalika (30), who was married to a doctor at the same hospital, was confirmed dead at the hospital after her husband sought help from a fellow doctor when he discovered that his wife "was not breathing" in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Sources at the hospital said the theatre nurse, who had a history of drug abuse had in 2012, been moved from the United Bulawayo Hospitals theatre to another section after it had been established that she was abusing drugs at her work station.
"Even at her death scene, syringes and empty drug bottles of ketamine and pethidine were found, and her body had marks showing that, she could have been injecting herself on the arms and shoulders," said the sources.
Pethidine and ketamine are strong narcotic drugs administered on people in operation theatres either as anesthesia or pain killers after surgical operations.
The sources said Mutambalika and her husband were common figures at the Inyathi Growth Point where they frequented and drank together; and at times in the company of the deceased nurse's parents.
The provincial medical director for Matabeleland North, Nyasha Masuka, confirmed the death and said a report had been made to the police.
"I can confirm the death of the nurse, I got the report yesterday (Sunday) morning and we referred the matter to the police although further details about the causes of death will be available after the post mortem," said Masuka, before referring other questions to the police.
The Matabeleland North provincial police spokesperson Inspector Sipiwe Makonese was not available for comment yesterday afternoon as she was said to be in a meeting while Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said: "That is not a national issue and they have not informed me they can comment on that."
Letisiwe Mutambalika (30), who was married to a doctor at the same hospital, was confirmed dead at the hospital after her husband sought help from a fellow doctor when he discovered that his wife "was not breathing" in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Sources at the hospital said the theatre nurse, who had a history of drug abuse had in 2012, been moved from the United Bulawayo Hospitals theatre to another section after it had been established that she was abusing drugs at her work station.
"Even at her death scene, syringes and empty drug bottles of ketamine and pethidine were found, and her body had marks showing that, she could have been injecting herself on the arms and shoulders," said the sources.
Pethidine and ketamine are strong narcotic drugs administered on people in operation theatres either as anesthesia or pain killers after surgical operations.
The sources said Mutambalika and her husband were common figures at the Inyathi Growth Point where they frequented and drank together; and at times in the company of the deceased nurse's parents.
The provincial medical director for Matabeleland North, Nyasha Masuka, confirmed the death and said a report had been made to the police.
"I can confirm the death of the nurse, I got the report yesterday (Sunday) morning and we referred the matter to the police although further details about the causes of death will be available after the post mortem," said Masuka, before referring other questions to the police.
The Matabeleland North provincial police spokesperson Inspector Sipiwe Makonese was not available for comment yesterday afternoon as she was said to be in a meeting while Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said: "That is not a national issue and they have not informed me they can comment on that."
Source - Zim Mail
