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Lucy Letby trial: Nurse ‘tried to kill baby by giving him contaminated fluids’ | UK News



Nurse Lucy Letby tried to kill a premature baby by giving it insulin-contaminated liquid, her murder trial has been heard.

Manchester Crown Court said the boy’s blood sugar dropped to dangerous levels and his heart rate spiked after Letby intentionally added insulin to his intravenous food during his night shift.

Letby, 32, is accused of trying to kill the boy, known as Child F, less than 24 hours after she allegedly murdered his twin brother, Child E, by pumping air into the boy’s blood.

The children’s real names cannot be released for legal reasons.

The nurse, originally from Hereford, denies killing seven babies and conspiring to kill 10 others between June 2015 and June 2016.

Peter Hindmarsh, professor of pediatric endocrinology at University College London, told the court on Friday that poisoning was the only reasonable explanation for Child F’s sudden collapse in the neonatology department of the disease. Countess of Chester Institute at dawn on August 5, 2015.

After the nutrient infusion, which began after midnight, the boy’s heart rate increased to 200 beats per minute and his blood sugar dropped to “extremely low”.

Intravenous administration refers to a way of giving a substance through a needle or tube that is inserted into a vein.

Professor Hindmarsh says that a commonly used synthetic human insulin called Actrapid – a colorless solution – is given through an intravenous line.

He said the brain depends on a “constant supply” of glucose to function, and the dangers of low blood sugar include seizures, coma and sometimes death.

The boy’s glucose levels remained low throughout the August 5 shift, even after the intravenous line and feeding bag had been replaced.

‘Low blood sugar for 17 hours’

The court said child F’s blood sugar rose to a safe level only after it was decided to stop giving nutrients from the second bag at 6:55 p.m. and feed him more sugar.

Professor Hindmarsh said it was clear that the boy’s low blood sugar was “persistent” during those 17 hours.

During that time, he said, Child F received twice the normal amount of glucose to correct the hypoglycemia in the infant.

Child F has made a full recovery

The witness agreed with Letby’s attorney, Ben Myers KC, that the high-insulin blood sample came from a second storage bag so could not indicate levels in the first bag attached in the early hours of August 5. .

But Prof Hindmarsh said similar blood sugar readings over the same time period from a person could mean they had a similar amount of insulin earlier in their system.

The court said child F made a full recovery and was subsequently discharged.

The trial will continue on Monday.

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