Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1986. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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United Press International - September 28, 1986
The patient, Edward Lebowitz, 48 years old, died of Kaposi's sarcoma, a cancer common to people who suffer from acquired immune deficiency syndrome, and other complications of the disease, according to a Los Angeles County coroner's investigator who identified herself only as L. Sheldon.
The autopsy report made no mention of any medication contributing to the death last Wednesday.
Mr. Lebowitz was a patient at St. John's Hospital on Sept. 20 when a telephone caller, identifying himself as Mr. Lebowitz's doctor, ordered a dose of insulin, which was immediately followed by a coma. Doctors revived Mr. Lebowitz, but he died four days later.
Suspect Was Arrested
Hal Speers Rachman, 39, a registered nurse who cared for Mr. Lebowitz before he entered the hospital, is suspected of posing as the man's doctor to order the medication.
Mr. Rachman has been arrested on suspicion of murder, the police said. The charge could be reduced to attempted murder based on the autopsy results, although no such reduction was announced by the police this afternoon. Mr. Rachman was being held pending arraignment Wednesday.
Mr. Rachman was also arrested on suspicion of grand theft and forgery, charging that he stole "tens of thousands" of dollars from Mr. Lebowitz's bank accounts and used the man's credit cards while he was ill.
The suspect, who specialized in the care and treatment of AIDS victims, was affiliated with the Health Folk, a nursing registry near Van Nuys that provides home care for AIDS patients.
It was not known if Mr. Rachman had been involved in Mr. Lebowitz's care while he was at the hospital or how long the nurse and Mr. Lebowitz, a lawyer at the William Morris Agency, had known each other.
AIDS, which most commonly afflicts homosexual men and intravenous drug users, cripples the body's ability to fight off many serious ailments.
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