Deadly Medicine by Kelly Moore and Dan Reed (September 1989)

When Those Who Heal Kill
Review by Kim Cantrell

In 1981, a rapid increase of deaths was occuring within the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of the Medical Center Hospital in San Antonio, Texas.

Although it would take several months for whistleblowers to get the attention of hospital administrators, an investigation had a common denominator in 22 of the 43 deaths considered: Genene Jones.

Jones was a single mother of two, working as a LVN (Licensed Vocational Nurse) on the hospital’s 3 to 11 shift. Being an older, often more experienced nurse, she was often left to tend some of the unit’s sickest children.

However, when the numbers reflected a suspicion of murder, Hospital Administrators opted to make changes that forced Jones into quitting her job yet they never adhered to the State’s mandatory reporting laws.

When new pediatrician Kathleen Holland set up practice in Kerrville, it was the fulfillment of a dream. But when, within days of opening her office, patients began to suffer life-threatening emergencies with little to no history of such before, the rumors began flying.

This time, it didn’t take officials long to investigate.

What they would uncover would be one of the most mind-boggling, time-consuming cases they would ever imagine.

Why would anyone kill, or even harm, these precious little babies?

The “who” was obvious. The “why” never was.

Authors Kelly Moore and Dan Reed dig into the case of Genene Jones and the possibilties of why she did what she did in their 1989 book Deadly Medicine.

I’m typically excited to see a book that’s at least 400 or pages more, as generally it implies a great deal of effort and research by the author.

Not so with the 500+ page Deadly Medicine.

Kelly Moore and Dan Reed’s idea of research includes interviews and Court transcripts.

Their writing style is to transcribe those interviews, copy the Court documents, and toss in a couple of paragraphs every few chapters to give the impression of having some original thoughts.

As a result, this is one of the most boring, mundane recounting of crime I have ever read.

There is another book about this case – The Death Shift by Peter Elkind – that you may want to consider reading instead if you’re interested in this case. Although I can’t speak of the quality of that book, my guess is that anything is better than Deadly Medicine.

Movies about this Case: Mass Murder (VHS only), 2002 and made-for-television movie Deadly Medicine (1991).

Updates on Genene Jones:

Jones is currently housed in the Murray Unit of the Correctional Institutions Division in Gatesville, Texas. Her most recent parole request (2008) resulted in a denial. However, according to Texas law, she must be released on parole no later than October 2017. She will have served 33 years.