German Nurse Given Life Sentence for Killing at Least 85 Patients

German nurse Niels Hoegel, 42, was sentenced to life in prison on 85 counts of murder in connection with 100 patient deaths in northern Germany in the early 2000s. The Washington Post reports the nurse injected drugs into scores of patients to induce cardiac arrest, only to be lauded for heroically resuscitating them. He is charged for the numerous occasions he could not bring them back to life. Hoegel admitted to killing 55 people during his trial. The court heard how he was considered “bad luck” by the families of those who died and referred to as “resuscitation Rambo” by those whose lives he saved. “I would like to sincerely apologize to every single individual for all that I have subjected them to over the years,” he told the court before his sentencing. The case also exposed serious oversight violations in the clinic where he worked.