Somerset Medical Center Lawsuit: Cullen Deaths, 2008 Settlement

The Somerset Medical Center lawsuit was a wrongful death action brought in 2004 by families of patients killed by nurse Charles Cullen at the Somerville, New Jersey hospital. It ended in a confidential February 2008 settlement in which Somerset and four other hospitals resolved claims involving 22 victims without admitting wrongdoing. A separate federal lawsuit, unrelated to Cullen, was settled in 2014 for $435,640 over anti-kickback allegations.

What Cullen Did at Somerset

Charles Cullen worked as a critical-care nurse at Somerset Medical Center from September 2002 until October 2003. In those 13 months he killed 13 patients and attempted to kill two others by injecting intravenous saline bags with lethal doses of digoxin and insulin.¹ He usually worked overnight shifts in the intensive care unit with little supervision and pulled medications from patients not assigned to him.²

The hospital’s computerized drug-dispensing system, Pyxis, logged every withdrawal. Records showed Cullen ordered digoxin at an abnormally high rate and sometimes for patients who had no prescription for it, then canceled orders after taking the drugs to cover his tracks.³ Internal investigations into suspicious medication errors began as early as May 2003, but the hospital did not immediately notify the New Jersey Department of Health or law enforcement.²

The Warning Somerset Ignored

In July 2003, Steven Marcus, director of the New Jersey Poison Control Center, warned Somerset’s director of medicine, Dr. William Cors, that a hospital employee might be killing patients. In a recorded conversation, Cors said the hospital was “wrestling with” the risk of “throwing the whole institution into chaos” against its “responsibility to protect patients from further harm.”⁴ Cullen kept working in critical care for months afterward. Somerset fired him on October 31, 2003, but the stated reason was that he had lied on his job application, not that he was suspected of harming patients.²

Cullen was arrested on December 12, 2003, and eventually pleaded guilty at the Somerset County Courthouse to 13 counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder for his crimes at Somerset alone.⁵

The Wrongful Death Lawsuits

Families filed suit in New Jersey Superior Court in 2004. The core allegation was that hospital administrators did nothing to stop Cullen from using stolen medications to kill patients and failed to notify authorities when they suspected him.⁶

In the fall of 2007, Superior Court Judge Bryan Garruto found that the hospitals had opened themselves to civil liability by failing to report Cullen’s improper conduct to authorities. That conduct, the judge said, included medicating patients without doctors’ orders, turning off ventilators, and treating patients roughly. The ruling let the families of 16 victims at Somerset sue that facility, along with other New Jersey hospitals that had previously employed Cullen.⁷

A separate ruling held that St. Luke’s Hospital in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, could be liable for failing to warn Somerset about Cullen. St. Luke’s had investigated him in 2002 for mishandling medications and forced him to resign, but did not pass that information to Somerset when he was hired shortly afterward.⁸

Attorneys for Saint Barnabas Medical Center, Warren Hospital, Hunterdon Medical Center, and Morristown Memorial Hospital appealed Judge Garruto’s ruling, arguing it ignored established law barring patients from suing over a hospital’s failure to follow state regulations and would force hospitals to report minor employee issues to the state.⁹ Plaintiffs’ attorney Michael Barrett countered that regulatory violations involving dangerous conduct should carry civil consequences.⁷

The 2008 Settlement

On February 15, 2008, after four sessions of court-ordered mediation with retired Judge Robert Longhi, five hospitals reached a confidential settlement with the families of 22 victims. The settling hospitals were Somerset Medical Center, Hunterdon Medical Center, Warren Hospital, Saint Barnabas Medical Center, and St. Luke’s Hospital. None admitted wrongdoing, and the dollar amount was not disclosed.⁶¹⁰

Barrett, who represented the families of Reverend Florian J. Gall and Michael T. Strenko, both of whom died at Somerset in 2003, called the settlement “a good thing for the families” and said he hoped it would give them “some sense of closure.” Somerset said its “hearts go out” to the families. St. Luke’s described Cullen’s actions as “the ultimate betrayal of the sacred trust between nurses and patients” and stressed that the settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing.⁸

Not everything resolved that day. Morristown Memorial Hospital refused to participate in the mediation, and a case involving a death at that facility remained active.⁶

To fund its share, Somerset obtained authorization to access a $15 million directors’, officers’ and trustees’ liability insurance policy.¹¹

No Criminal Charges Against the Hospital

No criminal proceedings were brought against Somerset, the other hospitals, or their administrators, despite evidence that multiple facilities had ignored warning signs, allowed Cullen to resign quietly, and failed to share his history with future employers.⁵ Dr. Cors, who received the poison control warning in July 2003, was not publicly reported to have faced disciplinary action or an individual suit. As of 2013 he was serving as chief medical quality officer at Pocono Medical Center in Pennsylvania.⁴

The Cullen Law

The case exposed a gap: hospitals that fired or forced out a dangerous employee had no duty to share that information with the next employer. In response, New Jersey Governor Richard Codey signed the Health Care Professional Responsibility and Reporting Enhancement Act, known as the Cullen Law.¹² Enacted in 2005, the law requires healthcare facilities to report any employee’s impairment, incompetence, or professional misconduct related to patient safety to the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs.¹³

The statute also requires hospitals to check with a prospective hire’s former employers about disciplinary or employment history before bringing someone on staff. Former employers must disclose any reports made to the state within the prior seven years and give the reasons for the employee’s departure. Facilities that fail to report or respond truthfully face fines of $250 per violation per day, and failure to maintain required records can carry penalties up to $1,000 per violation.¹³ Healthcare entities that provide information in good faith are shielded from civil liability for doing so.

The 2014 Federal Kickback Settlement

A separate lawsuit, unrelated to Cullen, resolved in 2014. Somerset Medical Center paid $435,640 to settle federal allegations under the False Claims Act and anti-kickback statutes. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey alleged that between 2006 and 2013 the hospital paid above-fair-market-value rent to Medicor Cardiology, a Hillsborough practice, to induce referrals, and that the referrals led to Medicare claims tainted by the improper financial relationship.¹⁴

The case, U.S. ex rel. Ash and Petersen v. Somerset Medical Center, was brought by two former hospital employees as whistleblowers. The allegations also involved a sleep center called RespaCare, where the hospital allegedly referred Medicare patients to a non-approved provider and billed the government using a relator’s provider number, and reduced rent offered to internists in exchange for referrals. The hospital settled without admitting liability.¹⁵

What the Hospital Is Called Now

If you are looking for Somerset Medical Center today, it operates under a different name. On June 1, 2014, it merged with Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick and was renamed Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset. In 2016, the Robert Wood Johnson Health System merged with Barnabas Health to form RWJBarnabas Health. The former Somerset Medical Center now operates as a 339-bed acute care hospital within that system.¹⁶

1
CBS News. NJ Angel of Death Gives First Interview to 60 Minutes
2
Tuscaloosa News. Through Gaps in System, Nurse
3
The Morning Call. How a Machine Led Police to Cullen
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NJ.com. Detective Tells 60 Minutes Somerset Medical Center Tried to Cover Up Cullen Investigation
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NJ.com. Meet the Good Nurse Hero Who Helped Put NJ Serial Killer Charles Cullen Behind Bars
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NJ.com. Hospitals End Suits by Cullen Victims’ Families
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NJ.com. Court Will Hear Arguments for Hospitals in Cullen Case
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ABC 7 Chicago. Families of Cullen Victims Reach Settlement
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NJ.com. Hospitals Say They’re Not to Blame in Cullen Case
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Fox News. Victims’ Families Settle With Hospital in Serial Killer Nurse Case
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Law.com. Somerset Medical Center Insurance Coverage for Cullen Settlement
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McKnight’s Senior Living. Killer Nurse Movies Remind Senior Living Entities About Reporting Requirements
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New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs. Health Care Professional Reporting
14
U.S. Department of Justice. New Jersey Regional Medical Center Pays Hundreds of Thousands to Resolve Kickback Allegations
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HHS Office of Inspector General. New Jersey Regional Medical Center Pays Hundreds of Thousands to Resolve Kickback Allegations
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RWJBarnabas Health. Celebrating 125 Years of Caring for Our Community