Air Force nurse innocent of killings

SAN ANTONIO, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- A U.S. Air Force nurse was acquitted Saturday in a court martial of killing three elderly patients by injecting them with overdoses of painkillers.

Capt. Michael Fontana, 36, said after the verdict at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas that he hopes to keep working as a nurse, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

"Through all these events, I would've never changed the care I gave for those patients," Fontana said.

Fontana was a nurse at Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland when the patients died after being given large doses of morphine or fentanyl.

Col. William Burd, who presided over the court martial, found Fontana not guilty of three counts of murder and of conduct unbecoming an officer. Burd could also have found Fontana guilty of negligent homicide or attempted murder.

During the trial, prosecutors said Fontana gave patients the fatal medication while their families were watching.

Dr. Robert Fine, an expert on palliative care and medical ethics who testified for the defense, said the case might scare doctors into providing too little pain relief. He told the court Friday that medication orders at Wilford Hall were often vague.