By Scott Huddleston and John Tedesco
The San Antonio Express-News
SAN ANTONIO — A nurse at Wilford Hall Medical Center has been accused of murder in the deaths of three terminally ill patients during a one-month period last summer.
Air Force officials had no immediate theories about why Capt. Michael Vincent Fontana might have delivered lethal doses to “end of life” patients in late July and early August 2008.
“As far as we can tell, he’s been an exemplary nurse,” said Dave Smith, public affairs chief for the Air Education and Training Command at Randolph AFB.
It will be up to the military justice system to determine if Fontana, 35, committed murder in the intensive care unit at the Lackland AFB hospital.
Fontana, who served as a nurse at Air Force Theater Hospital in Balad, Iraq, from August to December 2007, was letting his phone screen calls Tuesday, one day after being charged with three counts of murder.
“Due to the ongoing investigation, I have no comment for you right now, but I do appreciate your call. Talk to you soon,” he said on his voicemail.
An examination of medical records in the death of one patient led Wilford Hall officials in early August to the discovery of two more suspicious deaths, Smith said. The hospital “found an anomaly” in the first case and notified the Air Force Office of Special Investigation.
“They discovered the medical records were not correct,” he told reporters Tuesday at the hospital.
Besides being accused of “deliberately administering lethal amounts of medication,” Fontana has been charged with conduct unbecoming an officer under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, for allegedly changing hospital records.
Investigators discovered two other cases involving Fontana in the hospital’s ICU.
There still are many unanswered questions, including the type of medication used and whether other incidents might have occurred in the hospital. Fontana had been assigned there since 2006, when he joined the Air Force.
Military officials released no information on the deceased and asked the media to respect the privacy of the families.
When the investigation began, Fontana was immediately removed from the ICU and put in an administrative position, Smith said. He now works in the hospital’s medical library, dealing with paperwork, and is required to report regularly to his commander.
“He has no access to patients at this time,” Smith said. “He’s fully supervised.”
Fontana had been employed as a paramedic by Austin-Travis County EMS from March 2000 to May 11, 2006, said Warren Hassinger, that agency’s public information manager.
Fontana left Austin in good standing and had no clinical performance issues, said Hassinger, who had talked to Fontana on Tuesday.
“He told me his side of the story, and you know, in some respects, it makes sense,” Hassinger said. “According to him, there was a discrepancy over what’s an appropriate amount of pain medication to give patients.”
But Hassinger said he was concerned about the alleged altering of records.
“Because I promise you, that is a cardinal sin in EMS, and I suspect it is in medicine anywhere,” he said.
Fontana had been charged by San Antonio police with racing another driver in his Ford Mustang on U.S. 281 on May 3, 2007, and was given an adjudicated sentence, according to public records. According to the police report, when police stopped him, he said: “I was just messing with him.”
All new Air Force medical personnel are briefed on ethical issues when they begin working at Wilford Hall, Smith said. He said he was not aware of any communication that had occurred between Fontana and the victims’ families “prior to the act.”
Fontana now faces an Article 32 hearing, similar to a civilian grand jury proceeding, to determine if the evidence warrants a court martial. An investigating officer will examine the evidence and make a recommendation to Maj. Gen. Tom Travis, commander of the hospital’s 59th Medical Wing. Travis then will decide whether to proceed with a trial.
Air Force officials said they’re trying to be as open as possible.
“We are committed to openness with our patients and the public, and as releasable information becomes available, we will release it,” the Air Force said in a statement.
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