Nurse arrested for refusing to draw blood from patient receives $500,000 payout

  • 02/11/2017

A US nurse has been awarded US$500,000 (NZ$725,200) after being forcibly arrested by a police officer who wanted her to take an unlawful blood test from an unconscious patient.

Alex Wubbels, from Utah, told Detective Jeff Payne he needed a warrant or consent after he asked her to draw his blood from a car crash patient.

But the officer then arrested Ms Wubbels and dragged her outside the building in handcuffs as she tried to resist, repeating she was simply doing her job.

After later being released without charge, the nurse obtained a copy of the officer's bodycam footage and used it to take him to court.

Payne has since been fired, a decision he is appealing, saying it was an over-the-top reaction to the negative publicity.

Ms Wubbels told the Daily Mail she plans to give part of her settlement to the nurses union.

She also plans to use a portion of the settlement to help others pay for access to police bodycam footage.

"No matter how truthful I was in telling my story, it was nothing compared to what people saw and the visceral reaction people experienced when watching the footage of the experience I went through," she says.

Newshub.