Coroner Says Insulin Shot Didn’t Kill AIDS Victim

An autopsy performed Sunday confirmed that the death of AIDS patient Edward Lebowitz was not caused by a potentially lethal dose of insulin allegedly prescribed by a registered nurse accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from Lebowitz.

Lebowitz, 48, died Wednesday of metastic Kaposi’s sarcoma, a form of cancer, and other complications of acquired immune deficiency syndrome, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said.

Lebowitz was a patient at St. John’s Hospital on Sept. 20 when a telephone caller identifying himself as Lebowitz’s doctor ordered a dose of insulin that caused Lebowitz to lapse into a coma. Doctors revived him, but he died four days later.

Hal Speers Rachman, 39, a nurse who cared for Lebowitz before he entered the hospital, is suspected of posing as the man’s doctor to order the medication. Rachman was arrested Friday on a murder complaint and is being held without bail at Santa Monica Jail.

Other Accusations Made

Investigators also arrested Rachman on suspicion of grand theft, forgery and forgery with a credit card, claiming he stole “tens of thousands” of dollars from Lebowitz’s bank and credit card accounts while Lebowitz was ill.

Santa Monica Police Sgt. Robert Lagerski said evidence will be presented to the district attorney’s office by Wednesday, at which time a decision will be made about what, if any, criminal charges would be filed against Rachman.

Lagerski declined to speculate on whether the autopsy results would preclude the possibility of Rachman being charged with murder.

“It (the charges) could be murder, attempted murder . . . it could be nothing at all,” he said.

Rachman, who specialized in the care and treatment of AIDS victims, was affiliated with Health Folk, a nursing registry in the Van Nuys area that provides home care for AIDS patients, police said. Hospital officials said Rachman occasionally worked at St. John’s but his most recent assignment was to work in the recovery room and not with AIDS patients.

It is not known if Lebowitz, an attorney for the William Morris Agency, had hired Rachman through Health Folk or if the two men had known each other. But Police Sgt. Russ Martin said the alleged theft from Lebowitz’s bank and credit card accounts “apparently” occurred before Sept. 17, when Lebowitz was admitted to St. John’s.

The coroner’s spokeswoman said toxicological tests on Lebowitz’s blood and tissue samples have not been completed, but she declined to say if the results of those tests could alter the official determination of what caused Lebowitz’s death.

AIDS, which most commonly afflicts homosexual men and intravenous drug abusers, diminishes the body’s ability to fight off many serious ailments. AIDS has been fatal in more than half of the documented cases in the United States and there is no known cure.