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Deadly Doctors And Killer Nurses: 7 True Crime Shows To Watch Now About 'Bad Medicine'
From August 6 to 8, Oxygen will be airing true crime programming that investigates murderous physicians.
Doctors, nurses, and therapists are taught to take care of people, but some healthcare professionals have a deadly dark side. These killers hide in plain sight where their victims feel safest — at a hospital, preying on those who are often already in a vulnerable state.
From August 6 to 8, Oxygen will be airing its “Bad Medicine” marathon featuring true crime programming that investigates murderous physicians.
Culminating with the season two premiere of “License to Kill” on Saturday, August 8 at 7/6c, the weekend marathon will include episodes of “Snapped,” “Dateline: Secrets Uncovered,” “Cold Justice,” and “Criminal Confessions.”
Now, it's easier than ever to dive into Oxygen programming, with full episodes available streaming on your TV, smartphone or computer, wherever you are. Watch episodes with the Oxygen App, available on iOS and Android by simply entering your cable, digital or satellite TV subscription information — or take advantage of three free credits Oxygen offers for watching without signing in. Most shows are also available on AppleTV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku and through Chromecast. Individual episodes can be purchased on iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, and Google Play as well.
Shows that are in-season can be streamed live with your Sling TV, Hulu Live TV, or YouTube TV subscription. And you can always watch whole episodes right here at Oxygen.com by entering your cable subscription information. Pick the platform that works for you and start your streaming with Oxygen!
1. “License to Kill: Murder by Syringe” on Thursday, August 6 at 7 a.m. ET
At a hospital in California, a string of surprising deaths plagued Glendale Adventist Medical Center employees, and rumors began to circulate about respiratory therapist Efren Saldivar and his “magic syringe.”
As investigators dove deeper into the deaths, they received an anonymous tip that Saldivar “helped a patient die fast,” reported CBS News in 1998. Within roughly a week, the 29-year-old made the first of two lengthy confessions.
This episode of “License to Kill” investigates Saldivar’s past and how he got away with killing up to 60 patients.
2. “A Wedding and a Murder: The Lovesick Groom” on Thursday, August 6 at 11 a.m. ET
When a mysterious illness struck newly-married electrician Robert Curley, his condition become increasingly dire as doctors searched for answers.
At the time of his death, the 32-year-old was working at a Wilkes University lab in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and detectives initially believed he had died from an accidental exposure to thallium, a toxic compound often found in rat poisoning that was discovered within the lab.
For years, authorities came up with dead-end leads, but they always suspected Curley's wife, Joann, had something to do with his murder. Watch “A Wedding and a Murder” to find out what investigators uncovered.
3. “Criminal Confessions: Who Killed Little Mama?” on Friday, August 7 at 10 a.m. ET
When Ethel Adamson came into a large sum of money, she was mercilessly attacked within an inch of her life at her Clarksville, Tennessee home. Five days later, her son, Lee Watts, sat inside an interrogation room and revealed how Adamson wound up brutally bludgeoned to death with a claw hammer.
In this episode of “Criminal Confessions,” watch as investigators uncover a twisted trail of addiction, brutality, and betrayal with a surprise killer in plain sight.
4. “Snapped: Bernadette Perusquia” on Friday, August 7 at 9 p.m. ET
In 2003, school nurse Bernadette Perusquia gunned down her husband, Juan Perusquia, at the couple’s home in Laredo, Texas. Following the shooting, Perusquia called 911 to report that she “just shot [her] husband.”
Investigators had to pull apart fact from fiction to determine if the shooting was done in self-defense or if it was murder.
While Bernadette alleged that she shot Juan after enduring repeated verbal and physical abuse, in this episode of “Snapped,” authorities recount how they uncovered the truth about Juan’s killing.
5. “License to Kill: Lethal Injections” on Saturday, August 8 at 10 a.m.
An alarming spike in intensive care unit patient deaths prompted a head nurse to investigate the cause at Vermillion County Hospital in Clinton, Indiana. While ICU deaths usually topped out around 20 or 30 a year, by 1994, they had skyrocketed to more than 100.
After examining charts recorded by the hospital staff, her findings sent shockwaves through the small town. Watch as “License to Kill” recounts the case of nurse Orville Lynn Majors.
6. “Snapped Notorious: Kristen Gilbert" on Saturday, August 8 at 8 p.m. ET
In the early 1990s, the death rate at the Veteran Affairs Medical Center in Northampton, Massachusetts seemed to surge.
Kristen Gilbert was the nurse on duty for so many of the fatalities that her co-workers jokingly nicknamed her “The Angel of Death.” Their laughter soon turned to horror, however, when they realized the casualties were no accident and that Gilbert was a serial murderer.
This installment of “Snapped Notorious” looks back on Gilbert’s crimes and multiple murders.
7. “Snapped Notorious: Charles Cullen” on Saturday, August 8 at 9 p.m. ET
Another “Angel of Death,” East Coast nurse Charles Cullen confessed to killing more than 40 patients — claiming that he acted mercifully — but investigators believe that the real victim count could be in the hundreds.
Cullen's modus operandi was to sneak into patients' rooms, often at night, and to inject them with a lethal dose of drugs, like the heart medication digoxin, reported The New York Times in 2006.
As “Snapped Notorious” reveals, investigators began looking into dead patients who had strange levels of digoxin in their systems, leading them straight to Cullen.