She killed herself? And she died because of the horror of answering the call and pass it on to the other nurses?

I thought the same thing. Normally, when someone commits suicide, there are a number of factors involved. It's not always one big thing, but a series of small "hits" that drive people over the edge. When someone tries to commit suicide, they are not always thinking of how it will affect their family. Suicide is a truly selfish act.

I don't absolve the radio station of all blame, however, and feel that it may have been the one factor that finally pushed her over the cliff. I don't like "bully" radio stations and do not approve of some of the tactics they pull. I think it's an act of radio station desperation to garner attention.

The good thing is that this will put a damper on most radio stations pulling these pranks in the future. I hope.

What would morning radio be without prank calls?

Those who say this was "just a prank" aren't seeing the full picture. "Just a prank" is when you get "short-sheeted" at camp. This went way beyond that. Take a very stressful occupation (nursing), add the pressure of having a beloved member of royalty admitted to the hospital (think of the security, the press camped outside, the pressure from your bosses to make sure everything goes perfectly, the concern for the patient herself), then add a huge dose of being embarrassed and humiliated on a WORLDWIDE level, and one can imagine how this tragedy could happen. I also suspect she may have gone home to an empty apartment (she was living in residences provided by the hospital, not clear to me her familiy was there). She may not have had the support readily available to tell her it would be OK, or to help her cope with what had happened. Put yourself in her shoes for a minute. While suicide does seem extreme for what happened, it is not as outlandish as you would think if you take everything into account. Some people have better coping mechanisms than others.

@ Alan Static

What would morning radio be without prank calls?

The answer to your question is simple . .

A Lot better !

"humiliated on a WORLDWIDE level". Exactly. Who aired this on TV over and over for all to laugh at? CBS, NBC, ABC and on and on. They are just as guilty. These two DJ's should not carry the weight of this death on their shoulders. If you listen to the phone call, they said nothing mean or hateful. They weren't bullying this nurse. They just asked to speak to Kate. That in itself was not something to commit suicide over. Obviously the playing of it on national news might have had something to do with it. However, there had to be something else going on with this woman to kill herself and leave her children behind. It couldn't have just been this phone call. Sad for all involved.

Wow, seriously you need to get a grip. This was a harmless prank, what they did harmed no one, nor could it have harmed anyone. The nurses completely irrational reaction is a seperate issue, one that the DJs and radio station have no part in to blame.

Sounds to me like she was a slave to the hospital, living in employer provided housing reminds me of the days of company stores.

Then again what kond of country in this day and age worships kings and queens. They have no legitimacy, there is no birthright, the royal family is the biggest joke on the British people there is, it shows how absolutely stupid they are.

I agree that these DJ's should not be blamed for the death of that nurse. True, it is a sad situation, but it is obvious that she had a few mental issues to deal with. Who kills themselves over something so stupid?! And then we have the nerve to try to blame two innocent people just because they were goofing on her? It is a sad world we live in today in which nobody seems to be able to accept responsibility for things and are so quick to point the finger at others. No one is to blame for that woman dying but herself!

Some people have better coping mechanisms than others.

If this is the extent of her coping mechanisms she was definitely in the wrong line of work. No way the radio station should be held responsible in any way, whether she committed suicide or not. A normal person would not do this to her family, especially her children, over a prank.

i agree w ith everybody who says this was a harmless prank. she either really did have other issues.or maybe she just thought she was to perfect to have a prank pulled on her. the hospital did not say she was in trouble. it looks like her ego was at play here

leave those djs alone

So who kills him/herself over a prank and leaves two children behind?

Is it possible that one of the minions of the "Royals" killed her? That sounds more probable than she killing herself.

I think a lot of you people here have not really read all there is available on this story, and therefore, you're making these grandiose statements without the full picture.

This radio station, and these 2 exact hosts, have been in hot water numerous times before for HORRIBLE pranks, exactly like this. One major one, where they received sanctions from the government, stemmed from when they pranked a 14 year old girl by strapping her to a lie detector and grilling her about her sexual history. Then live on the air, she ended up admitting to being raped 2 years earlier.

There are a few other instances of disgusting and cruel pranks...do the research and read so that you can make an informed opinion.

Royalty in the U.K. is next to God!!!!

Everyone is missing the real reason she took her life. Shame that is generated by the Royals and there followers for breaking there rules on there comman subjects.

Thank God we had Sam Adams, John Adams and George Washington and all the rest of the founding fathers in 1776!!!!!!!

If she was that nutters, she probably should not have been working as a nurse.

Yes but now were stuck with Obama the Great!!! You think the Brits have their Royals, you ain't seen nothing!!!! In four when it's time to elect again, see who wants to run for a third term. Oh you bet, that new 2014 democrat house and democrat senate will say sure, go for it dude.

can you emagine where we would be now without his movement in Washington DC

Leftrightcenter - So the Brits are stupid for having a Royal Family, Makes you wonder what that say's about a country that elected GWB twice.

Just wanted to clarify, it's HIPAA...not HIPPA. Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act.

No matter what, it's sad for her family and friends.

Not surprising that many of you are judging the nurse's tragic actions on your own beliefs and how you would handle this situation and others. There are many nationalities who are overly sensitive to embarrassment. They lead quiet unobtrusive lives and would die to NOT embarrass their families, their employers, their elders, etc. And secondly, why should the radio djs be absolved of any blame? We are a world of many types of people. Their tactless pranks are done for shock value for their listeners. They should consider the ripple effect of what they do behind the scenes not what just sounds good on the air. For those who enjoy this type of humor... isn't it kinda sick that you thrive on this type of guffaw based on embarrassment and insensitivity, name calling, laughing at innocent people or those less fortunate to not have your broad based worldliness? There are cultures where marriages are still arranged, where women wear clothing to cover their face and hair, where dirty jokes are not the norm nor do they resort swearing and name calling, etc. You get the point don't you?

By all means then, everyone should give up their sense of humor and worldliness for a small group of people who have no problem commiting suicide should they become embarrassed. Sounds logical to me.

the simple fact is that she passed a call from unauthorized people to a place they could get confidential and personal information that the family may not have wanted released. The royal family very well could have sued the hospital, effectively firing the nurse, for releasing personal information to the press, if they had told them anything of value. It's a prank that seems harmless until you realize that you just made someone screw up in their career, which many people take very seriously, including an employer. Suicide is not the answer, but it was not just "simple fun" as there were real-world implications for financial harm to the hospital and nurse. You would never call it a harmless prank if you were the one that made a mistake and you thought it might cost your your job...

I think this woman had to be seriously unbalanced to commit suicide, however, we don't actually know that she did. She might have had an accident, a heart attack, or been killed off by secret service.

That being said, these two DJs didn't do anything cruel (at least this time) and their call was pre-recorded and it was the station's decision to air the call. The responsibility for the world-wide embarrassment actually falls on the station as the people in charge listened to the call, decided it was good, and gave the go-ahead to air it.

But if it was suicide, this woman was truly selfish to leave behind two kids, and needed serious mental help.

To violate the confidentiality of any patient in most health care facilities is cause for dismissal and often grounds for legal action in many places. She was faced with losing, not just a job, but her career. Royalty was involved... While it may seem trivial, to work one's entire life for a career, and face the prospect of having all your hard work yanked away from her, especially in these economic times, might have been too much for her.

True, she did not think of her children, but she comes from a culture where reputation is very, very important and she would have lost that. Tragic any way you look at it.

Everyone who believes that this nurse was selfish or had an underlying mental illness needs to stop for just a moment and speculate about the what if's........what if she did not take her own life? What would the headlines be today? The news media would be milking the story and highlighting the carelessness of the nurse, reviewing the HIPAA violations and rules violated and how easy info if handed over, the probable dismissal of the nurse, etc etc etc. The emotional destruction would be relentless for this poor nurse who only suffered from a trsuting nature and integrity before the news hit the fan. Folks would be on the newsvine writing about her stupidity and how the medical profession is dysfunctional and broken for allowing this to happen.

So much for people acting and behaving like adults in today's blame everyone but yourselves world where no good deed goes unpunished. The nurse fell for a prank that should never have happened but the world killed her for lack of anything better to do. She just did not want to live to part of the global flogging. God rest her soul.

If you were wondering how this could happen, I think Elaine has nailed it. Regardless of how it happened, the lack of compassion on the part of those posting here is tragic. Kudos to the radio station for promptly responding in a very appropriate way!

The radio station got off cheap, which is only a sad reflection of the low value placed on the life of a human person in a world drifted gravely away from God. I am frankly surprised and dismayed at the large number of posters here who fail to see this, or to see that the suicide was a reflection of the deep shame that this departed soul felt. Even though shame has fled the scene in the USA and other post-Christian cultures, there are still places and persons who are influenced by the emotion of shame, for better or worse, and in this tragic case, much worse. May God have mercy on her soul, and comfort this family in a raw time.

If this is because of a culture, then if she doesn't understand the culture she chose to move to, live in and profit off of, that seems to be an issue she needs to think about before she mental destroys her family. NOTHING constitutes a suicide. NOTHING, constitutes stating 'it's because of the culture' if you don't understand the country you chose to move into you need to learn it before you benefit from the positives. that is not a valid excuse to BLAME two people of killing someone who chose to take her own life. IF we are going to blame the DJ's there are millions that would be in jail for suicides every day all around the world.

What about a little compassion for the two DJs that are now made to feel like they participated in the death of an individual?

No doubt, the death of anyone is a serious issue but to assume this individual was a person of otherwise good mental health driven to suicide by the actions of a couple of radio pranksters is a mighty stretch.

I agree Offended...

What about her children? Parents are supposed to be willing to die to protect their kids. In this case she was willing to die for her own sake. At least in her own warped way of looking at things.

Poor kids....

Hey, Shipup Mom, you're wrong. I can put myself in her shoes; I'm a mother. NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING would cause me to take the chicken way out of committing suicide just because I'm embarrassed I fell for a prank. It is selfish, it inflicts trauma on the children and other loved ones, and it is totally unnecessary. She had to have had something else going on in her life -- other problems, emotional/mental issues, etc. -- for her to take her own life.

TimeAfterTime, anyone who feels that level of "shame" for having been the victim of a funny ha ha ha prank is emotionally unstable. Something else is going on. I feel for her that she was so low she could even consider taking her own life, BUT THE DJs DIDN'T make her an emotionally unstable person.

There is no shame in being the butt of a prank; how could she have known any better? She connected a call. Big frickin' deal.

The nurse was obviously of a "different culture". Nothing is like America's.

People from other countries, are more serious about their jobs, work harder to make money, do not understand American "Humor".

She was a dedicated, honest woman who felt she had shamed the Royal Family, herself, and her family. They do not make mistakes and just blow them off.

Public Humiliation from the British Press/and Brits approaching her after would be enough to put yourself "under". The Brit Press are killers of many people--Character Assassinations--

The British Royal Family sues British Newspapers Tabloids all the time for exposing them--like Prince Harry, and his naked romp in Las Vegas--don't mess with them!

OK. this is just ridiculous. This lady was the receptionist that answered the phone and transferred the call. This was a harmless joke that this woman chose to take way overboard. She decided to kill herself. The DJs had nothing to do with it. They cannot control the actions of someone who is so mentally incompetent and messed up that she would take her own life. All she did was answered the phone, she is NOT the nurse that gave out the information. I truly believe that this woman already had plans to commit suicide and chose this time to kill herself just to get the publicity. Otherwise, why would she commit suicide when this incident was so public? This woman is so selfish that she took her own life and left her children to suffer the amount of grief that they must be feeling at this time. My mother passed away in Feb 2012 and I am still grieving the loss of losing my mother so I can only imagine the grief and sorrow these children must be going through. Some people are saying that she embarassed the Royal Family. If that is true and the Royals were so embarassed why was Prince Charles making jokes about the prank call the very next day?

There are thousands upon thousands of radio stations that do prank calling on a daily basis and it is done all out of fun. I find it just inconceivable to think that someone would take their own life over something so very trivial and small unless they were mentally unstable already. I think it is commendable of the radio station to help this family financially but they should not feel obligated to pay for anything. The radio station and the DJs should NOT in any way be held accountable for the actions of this woman. My heart goes out to these DJs because they are being made out to be monsters when they did absolutely nothing wrong. I think they should definitely be given their jobs back and if they lose their jobs because of this they should seek legal actions because they would wrongly terminated.

If this family is angry, that anger should be ONLY directed at their own family member because she was selfish to commit suicide in the first place. It is sad that someone would stoop so low in their life to kill themselves and leave their children mother-less.

What People are not understanding is the anger that Prince William had over the incident. He didn't have to say much -if you do a little research on the web, MANY heads rolled over the topless photos taken over Kate. The hospital was scared, I'm sure, when they realized the royals would be angry and no doubt reacted to that. Probably this poor woman was threatened and humiliated by her employers at the hospital.

Notice the hospital and others wasted NO TIME in stating how the "palace" did not complain about the nurses and the top administrators of the hospital stated they had been supportive of Jacintha Saldanha. I have no doubt these were big lies. This woman was probably put through hell. So demoralized and likely sensitive about the honor of her family, she felt there was no option but suicide.

Lots of evil was likely committed against this woman. Workplace Bullying is alive and well in this day and age.

Wow.....Allie May you have such a vivid imagination. If anyone were to be punished it would be the nurse who gave out the information about Kate's condition. This is not that nurse. This lady was the receptionist on the switchboard who transferred incoming calls to all of the hospital so I doubt that she was bullied as you say. This whole harmles prank has been taken to a whole another level.

The only people that should be angry is the children and the family. They have a right to be angry but they should only be angry at their love one who was so mentally unstable that she chose to commit suicide. The only person that should be held accountable is this woman for committing suicide over something so stupid.

I looked up the 14 year old girl story and that was waaayyyy worse than this prank, but it was not them. It happened at the same radio station in 2009 and these two have only been working together since Nov 2012.

I do not know why this woman chose to take her own life. Suicide is a sad issue and if it is due to bullying should be on the conscience of the bully, but I do think this was an act of bullying. She is also old enough to know this will pass. She should have talked to someone. Nurses should have someone to talk to if they are feeling vulnerable at work. I guess all we can do is speculate, but I would not be surprised if there were issues with her marriage and other areas in her life.

American privacy laws do not cover the UK, I am not sure why anyone would think that HIPAA has any relevance here. However, both the hospital and the royals had shown their support to the staff, as a nurse all I can say is there has to be more to it than this and this was likely the straw that broke the camels back. However, these pranks are cruel and mean spirited, there was no point to doing this to someone who was just doing their job.

Well said Tracey!

Ridiculous !

Hey Marchant

This was not "American Humour". The DJs and the radio station are from Australia. The DJs never expected that their prank would work and that they would be given any information. The nurse who gave out the information is doing fine, so why did this woman who only passed on the call, find it necessary to commit suicide (if that's what happened)?

The DJs are being blamed but it was their bosses that decided to air the call to begin with. I feel bad for the DJs who will forever be chastised and have to live with this on their conscience. The radio station is doing a good thing by giving the family money but they are not obligated to do so.

Also, what if this woman had planned on committing suicide all along and decided to do it now because she thought it would be most profitable for her family?

mj:

You missed my "point". This woman is from another Culture; Hispanic, Arabic, I don't know--they take their jobs seriously in a different manner than Americans.--Americans get "humour", the English way to spell. Of course I knew the DJS were from Austrailia--what does that matter--the end became the end, the result of their prank (bullying). They learned a hard lesson as well--they have no job, and the Station Shut down--

BTW: The person that killed herself was the Nurse--the call was transferred to her by the receptionist.

America has the HIPAA Law--apparently Britain does not--

People kill themselves over fairly trivial matters all the time. I don't think the DJ's joke was funny or innocent, but giving money to the family in this case sets a bad example. People need to learn how not to overreact in life.

You have to have an infantile brain to not understand what is going on here and to think these idiotic pranks are so funny!!! The Jacka55 show and all that is for ignorant teenagers and so are these stupid radio show pranks. We would still listen to the radio, they don't have to do these things. Patient confidentiality is a BIG deal to people working in health care and it doesn't matter if you are a nurse or a swithboard operator! You get fired for breaking the rules. Besides you can tell this woman is middle Eastern and you know how easily they are shamed. They kill their own daughters for less than this. I will say that they do not have the same value on their women or their lives as we do! All I'm trying to do is bring to someones attention that you don't have to be mentally unstable to do this when it is how you were raised. I'm sure she thought she had shamed herself, her job, the royals and her family. Doesn't make sense to us but to her family I bet it does. So if this radio station would not have called and tired to sneak and get the info she would not be dead!

Everyone is trying to assign blame on everyone else. The fact of the matter is - there is no one to blame except the person who made the ultimate choice. The DJ's were doing what DJ's do. I'm not saying I like it but that's what they do. The nurse obviously either had a mental instability, a cultural issue, or other circumstances that, ADDED to this, were too much for her. Yes, the world heard about her falling for a mean prank BUT as a grown woman and a mother, she should have known that it would pass, just as every other thing in life does. That is what we try to teach our children, this too shall pass. Unfortunately, instead of digging in her heels and waiting for that or considering other more drastic options such as moving, she chose to put her husband and children through this pain. That choice was HERS. That's what it comes down to. How can we tell our children that they need to be strong and hang in there through pain and humiliation, that it WILL get better, if this is the kind of examples they receive? And we wonder why some of our extremely bullied youths kill themselves rather than live with it? THIS is why! By putting the blame on anyone except her essentially condones what she did and tells our children that if they kill themselves the bully will FINALLY be condemned. It usually doesn't work like that. If a grown woman can't stay strong through it, how much harder it must be on the kids that don't have the support and maturity she supposedly had. The DJ's will live with this for the rest of their lives - there is no getting around that. In my opinion, that is punishment enough. But, as to whose fault? Hers alone. SHE made that choice when there are ALWAYS others. A mother should ALWAYS put her children first, no matter what!!!

Merchant- You are wrong, read the article again.

"A radio station is to pay at least $525,000 to a memorial fund in the name of a nurse found dead after two DJs duped her into putting their call through to the hospital ward where Duchess Kate was being treated for an extreme form of morning sickness."

She was covering the reception desk at the time, she was not the nurse that gave out the information.

If she did indeed kill herself over this and this alone(Neither have been proved yet) then she may have been too tightly wound for life anyway. Sorry, but I have no sympathy for suicide as it is the most selfish thing a person can do.

I agree...she should have put her kids FIRST over her pride because she was embarrassed...or whatever was going on with her. I don't think the DJ's are to blame and I feel sorry for them and don't think they should have lost their jobs over this.

She killed herself? And she died because of the horror of answering the call and pass it on to the other nurses?

RT

Are tea.

RT Colorado

James Holmes

Josh Powell.

Syria rebellion against Ashad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAAzQGEJp7c

The antichrist and a cup of tea.

There is a modem out called the Ubee modem.

That's why the bees were dying off a couple of years ago.

Improper use of a modem is why Josh Powell killed his wife and kids and very likely why Syrian rebels rather than leave peacefully have taken up arms against their president and probably the reason why Honduras discovered a coup plans.

@lisa - she taught her children that a person can be so overwhelmed by guilt, public ridicule and shame that they will commit suicide rather than continue life. It happens all too frequently with school age children who are publicly ridiculed and shamed by their peers to the point of overwhelming guilt and despair of living. The will to live can be fragile and there is a point for everyone that death finally becomes an option. This nurse reached her point after the Australian station publicly ridiculed and shamed her relentlessly on an international scale for hours on end.

The two shock-jocks, their manager, the station owner and whoever else "vetted" this prank murdered this nurse just as effectively as any more common weapon with their weapon of ridicule, guilt and shame that they directed at her. The shock-jocks, their manager, the station owner and every person who "vetted" this prank should be imprisoned for the rest of their lives for the manslaughter they wrought and the irreparable harm to this nurse's widowed husband and innocent orphaned children. Life imprisonment doesn't even come close to being long enough.

Kate Middleton's inflated importance.

A suicide note was just found. And, unfortunately, her family didn't even know about the prank call prior to this.

Sad all around.

Nurse skipped psych evaluation before being hired.

whats the cause of death?

Silver = chrome

Google chrome

30 pieces of silver

Judas

You are right. Those kids don't need a mom.

As has been pointed out already, it does seem rather extreme if this was suicide. However, in some cultures,being publicly humiliated or shamed is almost unthinkable. To lose face and be dishonored is the ultimate sin as far as can happen to a person. From which one cannot recover because one has brought dishonor to their family. So it can be seen that death is preferable. By dying one removes the shame.

One should also remember this nurse is from India,where the caste system's practiced.It's unthinkable to break the ancient rules of that system which places people into different classes.In many places, people are still killed for violations.I have friends from India explain this way of life.Slowly things are changing.

Although not part of the caste system, the Royal family would be viewed as being higher socially, then the nurse and her family. Who would be in the lower merchant caste. By exposing the Royals private sensitive matters to public scrutiny, she may have seen herself possibly harming them in her eyes. The worst thing that could have happened, according to India caste customs.

Fearful of offending the most important people in the country, her employers and bringing shame to her loved ones and all who knew her, she may have felt trapped.That the whole world would never let her live this down and her children would be taunted for it. In her country, a person who had broken the caste rules was often driven out, even killed.

Last, the hospital also may have applied pressure which it isn't acknowledging at this stage, since she has died.Perhaps putting her on probation, implying she would be placed in another position there, or transferred to another place altogether.

Whatever the reasons for this woman's death, I hope people will use more discretion in the future on all sides and respect people's right to privacy in medical care and in seeking to treat people with respect. Instead of making fun of them, at their expense.

pppfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffftttttttttttttttttttttt!!!!!! caste system, my butt! I love how people write these over-blown, pseudo-intellectual comments on stories like this, when they don't know anything, but try to show how intelligent they are. Bleah. Get a life- and what kind of screen name is "Windancersong"???? Too precious by half....

Don't forget the fact that she may have been about to lose her job...she did basically let media straight into the hospital room...so while the prank seemed harmless, messing around in ways that can cost people their jobs is no "harmless" thing.

Not only are there people in this world that do not share our cultural values of honor and humor, there are people who have secrets that, if found out, would cause them to be psychologically destroyed. We don't know what was happening to this woman that was acute enough in this woman's mind to cause her to take her life--perhaps to save her honor. It is possible that she didn't want relatives back in India to know where she was or to know her current marital status. The media focus could easily have uncovered family skeletens that this nurse thought she was safe from being exposed. Many of us have secrets that we don't want to be made public. It doesn't mean that we are unstable or even criminal. The media is so intrusive that they have lost all sense of decorum and honor. Get the story, pix, photos at all cost....No matter that you walk all over the livlihood of good people in the process--just get the scoop and get your check. In her mind, it may have been the only thing she felt she could to to save her family from being shamed and dishonored. We don't see it that way, but, maybe she would and maybe she was right to feel as she did in HER BELIEF SYSTEM--YOU KNOW--THE ONE THAT COUNTS HERE. Don't ever make a mistake in the presence of the media--or friends with cell phones--unless you have nothing in your life that you wouldn't mind sharing with the entire world--so that they may laugh at you. People have secrets. Some intend to carry them to their graves. Some are unwantedly exposed. Then come the consequences.

Um...I think you mean "correlation does not imply causation"

Elementary statistics.

Sound like a good ol' fashioned "sanction" to me (cue "James Bond" action music)....

Wrong, Mike. The real culprit here is our tolerance of the invasion of privacy and stalking behavior of the media. It isn't just the Royals. This is happening to almost every celebrity in the world. There seems to be a lack of reasonalble boundaries and tainted view of the concept "need to know." Did we need to see the pictures of Kate sunbathing without her top? Did we need to know if she puked that day? No. Some things are off limits: Whether it be a celebrity or just one of us peons--One is our medical information and another is our private moments with our spouses.

Invading the privacy of a sick woman and pulling a prank like this IS a big deal. The Duchess was sick. She had a right to not be molested by a bunch of Australian jerks. Even if the nurse had not killed herself (and I agree that she probably had serious issues), it would have been an obscene act.

The audio is totally and completely harmless. This is where society has it completely backwards. One of the most selfish acts that a person can do on this earth is kill themselves it shows you are completely focused on yourself and not those involved.... the poor kids. The radio station is making a great gesture, the DJ's should not be punished at all.

Invading her privacy? All the nurse told the callers was that she had an uneventful night and was sleeping peacefully. The information the nurse gave out was pretty much information that they would give out in a press release. It was innocuous and harmless. Kate's privacy was not invaded in any way.

It doesn't matter what info she gave. The fact was that she gave information to the media without the consent of the patient or hospital. In almost any clinic, I think that's grounds for dismissal, no matter how "harmless" the info may seem...it still counts as a breach of confidentiality. I agree that it shouldn't have ever led to suicide...but if you do something that potentially endangers someone's career, there's really no telling how they will react.

Karen- Most of us wouldnt go to the hospital due to "morning sickness" we suck it up. And its not invasion of privacy, the poor woman hardly said anything, she did not go into much detail.

However-- i dont think anyone is at fault if this clearly mentally unstable woman killed herself due to a prank.

But it isa lesson learned, you never know what someone is may be going through, even the most petty things could be their last and final straw. Thats why if you have nothing nice to say, dont say anything at all.

When it comes to medical privacy, there is no degrees of importance in what information is revealed. Any information given out is a crime. This includes diagnoses, status, medications, and even the patients room number. I perform healthcare security, and can tell you that there are 17 different other identifying pieces of information that is also protected. This includes name, address, zip code, age, policy numbers, and even phone numbers. A health care organization can be charged with releasing any of that information or medical information. It's all treated the same.

Obtaining the information without being authorized or releasing it without authorization, is a crime. This has nothing to do with someone killing themselves, which is a totally different matter.

annonymous12 - Most people don't go to a hospital for morning sickness because morning sickness is not that serious. This condition can be life threatening. You can be so sick that you become dehydrated and die. It is NOTHING like normal morning sickness. I had a friend with it and she was hospitalized for months to keep her alive. She had to be on an IV because she couldn't take any food by mouth. You know nothing about it if you think that it's the same as regular morning sickness!

Anon...Yes, we would go to the hospital if we were suffering from Hyperemesis Gravidarum. This condiditon is morning sickness on steriods. The mother is in danger due to dehydration and weight loss. Electrolyte embalances are common. You do not know of what you speak...so, don't speak.

I agree $ shouldn't have been paid, but for different reason. Placing a $ value over a person's life just cheapens the value of life, basically saying the $ can replace life. The DJs meeting the family and saying sorry to their faces would've been enough. BTW I don't believe the DJs were directly responsible for her death, indirectly maybe, but not directly.

Ah....blame the victim....

She was around for 46 years.....until two days after an embarrassing prank.

Please know that some cultures take their professional life and performance seriously. She must have felt embarrassed and shamed. Have a heart and know that she must have been in incredible pain to have taken her life.

@Sonya

Listen to the tape.

Ring - ring.....

Nurse, "Hello, good morning, could you tell me who to transfer to please"

DJ, (Queen) "Oh hello there, could I please speak to Kate please, my grand daughter?

Nurse "Oh yes, just hold on Maam".

Call transferred to next nurse, who isn't dead now.

...... and she dead over that?

Give us a f'g break.

youtube dot com/watch?v=xKcAipVdMKQ

And it's the the libs in America who think they are the great defenders of the 1st Amendment.

I agree....total bull crap.... The neither the radio hosts/ nor the prank caused the nurse to take her life. A sane, rational human being does not do that on a whim. This chick had to have other emotional / mental health issues going on, long before the prank call.

Sonya in TX...yes, I blame the victim...nobody murdered her, she took her own life. And NO ONE can make you do anything you aren't already willing to do.

Have you ever been to the U.K. You can not insult the Royals in Briten. Its like insulting God. Shame killed her.

"You can not insult the Royals in Briten."

See, the progressive liberals banned free speech.

Impersonating the Queen is certainly a crime in England. I hope the DJ's end up in jail for a couple of years.

Change your name Bad Bob. You're tooooo squeeky clean!

I can pretty much say anything I want about the Queen cause I don't live in England. The radio station in question is not in England either.

Several tabloids and internet sites have posted pics of a naked Kate and disorderly William. Will they all be tracked down for crimes against the Royals?

Idiotic.

Blame the victim? Well, in a suicide the victim and murderer are the same person.

There are only a few circumstances where I would blame someone else for a suicide.

1. If someone threatened their family if they didn't kill themselves.

2. If someone knowingly egged on someone with suicidal tendencies with the goal of getting them to kill themselves.

3. If someone physically or psychologically harmed someone, eg rape, torture, kidnapped and brainwashed them.

In every other circumstance I can think of, it's wholly on the person who kills themselves. We all have crap happen in our lives. I'll grant you some more than others. But it's not up to other people to make your life easy.

That being said, I try to live by the golden rule. Do I always succeed? Unfortunately no.

Sounds as if this nurse had problems prior to this prank (nursing is a high stress job, many nurses have problems with addiction, etc because of it); sounds as if this is a good excuse to raise some money for her family at the expense of the radio station and the DJs.

The whole sordid chapter is quite sad....all the hoopla over someone with morning sickness (yeah, find out how many 'common' people get to go to the hospital with 'extreme morning sickness'), a prank gone wrong, and some unbalanced person taking their life.

Give old Kate a bucket next time she vomits....and keep her home. Her 'illness' seems to be causing way too many problems for the rest of the world.

Really, your going to commit suicide because of some stupid prank? How weak-minded are people nowadays? Maybe the hospital in question needs to screen their employees a little better in the future? I really doubt the royal a-holes will be back to that hospital, ha! As far as the radio station goes call me and prank me please maybe I'll cut off a finger or toe. I'll just ask for $ 50,000.00 for the mental anquish, please! This world is going to hell in a hand basket where's my Zoloft!

Perhaps, the nurse was leading a private life with Mr. Barboza without her family in India knowing about it....or approving. Perhaps she had secrets...possibly nothing that meant anything to us, but they were important to her. Perhaps, she fears that her new notoriety would expose those secrets and cause humiliation to her family? That doesn't make her selfish or crazy. Most of us have some memory slots in our minds that we don't care to visit on a regular basis. She established a good life with beautiful children and a respected career. She did what she did for a reason. We don't know that reason. Not for us to judge and call her selfish, crazy or to "blame the victim." We don't have enough information to judge her actions and we have to judge them by her moral standards rather than our own.

I think a lot of people have ther wrong idea about the DJs. Of course they didn't cause the death of the nurse. However, they started a ball rolling that Ms. Saldanha just couldn't cope with. I'm pretty sure that if I were ridiculed and held up to scorn by the WORLD that I wouldn't commit suicide but then I have never been in that position. Can you imagine going to work every day and having to run a gountlet of reporters just waiting to get a peek at the scorned nurse, then being on the workroom floor, having everyone know just what a stupid mistake you made? And to make it all that much worse, you have involved the royal family in a stupid caper? Wow, I sure wouldn't be wanting to come out of hiding for a long time. Suicide for me, no, absolutely not. But for someone else, grief, shame and hopelessness - yes, I think I can understand the suicide. So, yes I do partially blame the DJs but I think their own grief over this incident is "punishment" enough.

People have mentioned that this woman may have been of a different cultural background and that alone could have contributed to her shame and hopelessness. Until you have walked a mile in her moccasins...

gauntlet - sorry

Listen to the tape.

If you can't handle being the brunt of a HARMLESS prank, you have serious issues.

It is not harmless. How would you like it if you were in a hospital and someone invaded your privacy and then boasted. Those two DJ's should never be on the air anywhere again.

"You probably would laugh at a cripple, a child with harelip or someone dying of AIDS"

Way to spin it there, Karen.

I have been in the situation, working in the medical field. I've made mistakes, got embarrased, then learned from them. Last I checked, isn't this part of life? Making mistakes, then learning from them?

If most people did this, I suppose the population would be really low, and filled with people who are perfect.

I guess we all better reaaaaly watch out. In this day and age, if you have a fight with somone, or reprimand an employee who then kills themself, you will find yourself facing criminal charges.

I can't believe people here are jumping down the throats of people who say the station shouldn't have jumped the gun, and waited to see what the cause of death was. Really? Gathering facts is something to put down?

Kristy, I agree 100%.

What the hell is the world coming to?

But I guess we all need to be "sensitive"...... NOT!!!!

@JOMO....Excuse me?

You're right, the prank started out to be harmless. The DJ's thought for sure they would get hung up on. But no , it actually worked. At this point it is still pretty harmless. But then the is prank gets worldwide attention. We have no idea what the hospital said to this nurse, maybe they said her job was in jeopardy for transferring the call, now that she's dead they are saying how appreciated and what a great nurse she was. WE DON"T KNOW ALL THE DETAILS YET. I think this all goes beyond the radio station and the DJs.

Hey Leftrightcenter, You think the British are stupid because they still are represented by Royalty ? You should show some compassion, I mean after all your father was a queen back in the day and your son has been seen around town wearing a tiara. Uh oh, did I spoil your Christmas surprise ?

Since most of us descended from those "morons"...You must be speaking of yourself. That gene pool is a b!tch, isn't it? The Royals are what the Brits want and they have a difficult and demanding job. They raise millions for charity every year and live a fish bowl life. They are well educated, actually, and not moronic at all. They serve their country militarily--have you? Not so much the losers you make them out to be. They are people and they have certain rights--rights that are continually violated by the stalking media. You go and see if you could do their job....I know I would want out after two days of flashbulbs in my eyes.

Let us get our priorities straight. The only issue which will linger in the minds of the public in the weeks and months to come will NOT be the two children left behind by their mother's selfish act, or the two DJs prank or their culpability in the outcome of their actions, which there is none, but the donated dollars which will be left behind for the nurse's estate will eventually dominate all other considerations and memories of the event. Money. Some have already said that it is too little while others are moved to state that it is already a large sum and is getting larger by the minute. Then there will be future discussions as to who has the right and responsibility to hold on to and control the funds until the children reach the age of accountability and self-determination. Money, is all anyone will remember.

Another thing. In the spirit of world wide "Political Correctness" we must all acknowledge that every nationality, religious sect, economically striated group of peoples alive in the world today have absolutely nothing in common with one another other than their basic humanity. You know the "we all eat, drink, sleep, need shelter, security, and oh yeah, procreate, some more than others." What should take place from this point forward is that we as a species should never be allowed to communicate with or enter into contractual agreements with people other than our own kind or within our own limited sphere of influence so we will never expose anyone outside of our immediate level of shared community standards to the vagaries, such as humor, no matter how raw or misplaced it may be, of our culture which could send them skittering over the edge of rationality and cause them to commit some heinous personal act which will gererate shock waves throughout the remainder of the civilized world.

I, for one, try to be cognisant of the sensibilities of those around me whom I might have influence over with my words or my actions. But, I refuse to live my life walking through the world on eggshells worrying if this comment, or that bit of cutting whit, or whether I accidentally pointed the toe of my left foot in the general direction of someone raised a great personal offence in them. Some people are either filled with an over abundance of pride or shame. Either way, their personal cart will eventually topple over due to some minor influence from outside their control as did this nurse in England. And oh, by all means, "God Save the Queen!"

I don't believe the radio station owes the family money -- if a person chooses to take their own life, that's on them alone. But if the settlement discourages other idjits from disrupting the lives of random strangers with their need to trick people... I'm for it. We need less weirdos demanding attention from the public.

Please show your evidence that she was mentally unstable? She was certainly depressed and maybe humiliated. She may have even been afraid. She worked for four years as a nurse with a good record and there has been no suspicion previously that her suicide was inevitable. Perhaps she wanted to remain anonymous and was outed by the media? What if she didn't want her family or someone else to find her or to know about her marital status to Barboza? What if she simply did her own honor killing according to her values and in order to protect her family from what she saw as shame? What if, when they called, the Duchess was in the process of misscarring? And the nurse expressed her condolensces? You assume too much...about some things and not enough about others.

You probably would laugh at a cripple, a child with harelip or someone dying of AIDS right in front of you. For me, this crap isn't funny

Sorry Karen, you sound like a boring sod....everything is funny to some degree, even it if it taboo to main stream society. Get over yourself.

A bit of a stretch there Karen. You're comparing Candid Camera to people dying of AIDS "right in front of you"???? The sky is falling, the sky is falling!!!!

"You probably would laugh at a cripple, a child with harelip or someone dying of AIDS"

Way to spin it there, Karen.

elizabeth...How do you know that she had a loving husband? Do you know her belief system? Do you know her personal history? Why she left India and why she may not be married to Barboza. In some cultures that is reason for a death sentence. Maybe, the media inadvertently outed her secrets and she knew that she would be hounded--even stoned to death--for the rest of her days. Perhaps, she believed that harm would come to her family. We don't know all the facts. Unless you have walked a mile in her shoes, keep your trap shut.

How about the predictor is......don't prank people you don't know. You don't know what mindset they are in, period. So when people say that Jacintha "must have had other problems", doesn't obsolve the DJ's of picking on someone they don't know.

From a report that I heard this am, if it is correct, the nurse had been constantly harrassed by fellow employees for a long time. If this was true then her "fellow" staffers must have felt this episode was "manna from heaven" to harrass her on. From the moment the incident occurred they probably bullied her with how stupid she was for doing that, although all she did was pass the call on to ANOTHER nurse who gave very intimate info to someone that she had not verified ID on. The SECOND nurse is the one who gave out the info, the first nurse was a 6 sec hello and forward. The very unfortunate suicide was caused by previous attitudes and events surrounding this poor woman. The prank just gave her co-workers fodder for harrassing her which is what probably put her over the edge; humiliation not only in the workplace, but WORLDWIDE. The radio station and DJ's should by no means be punished for this (and, btw) very nice of the station manager to throw his staff under the bus). The hospital where she worked, the bullies who harrassed her(and obviously that wasn't managed well by hospital management), and the staffer who gave out personal info (do they have HIPAA over there??) should be punished, ie, pay....not the radio station. And the DJ's need to be reinstated with a BIG apology from the station and the hospital.

Susan....Would you please site your source? I have not learned of any bullying and would like to read the report. I heard that she was well respected among her peers.

I completely agree with you. In listening to the tape, the voice purporting to be Queen Elizabeth was so contrived as to be a parody in and of itself. I believe, too, that there was something much deeper in the life of the nurse than just answering this telephone call that drove her to suicide.

AMEN!!!!!

Double AMEN and thank you for your common sense post. This is a tragedy, but not the fault of the DJ/s, whose lives have been shattered because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Someone asked earlier 'when did pranks become mean'? I don't see ANYTHING mean in this one. the DJ's did what DJ's around the world do everyday. If you listen to the tapes, it's clearly not the Queen - there were certainly many more underlying issues that created this mess.

The radio station should NOT have paid out the money.

Sue them for what exactly??? Wrongful death? Indirect homicide? They didn't pull the trigger, push her off a building, stab her....etc, etc. They are NOT responsible for her death. You cannot prove, within a reasonable doubt, that their prank had any impact on her death, it's all circumstantial. She took her own life. To me, that means she had bigger emotional issues going on. People like you are part of the problem, your the reason we have such a litigious society and keep millions of scum bag lawyers employed.

Are you a lawyer? This poor nurse wasn't overlybright in the first place, or she would have gotten DIRECT authorization to put the call through BEFORE doing it. It's an aqbsolutely horrible, horrible tragedy, but this girl must have had something else going on in her life to have done this over so silly a thing.

Sad event, but this is no crime.

If a homeowner dies after being visited by trick or treaters on Halloween, shall we sue the trick or treater for scaring them to death?

Al - you are asking about what ifs and you are stating HIPAA violations but I
have a news flash for you...... This mentally unstable woman is NOT the nurse
that violated HIPAA laws. This lady was only the switchboard operator who
transferred a call. She never had a conversation with the DJs all she said was
"Hold On" and transferred the call. The nurse that had a conversation with the
DJs and gave out the condition of Kate Middleton. So to say that this woman was
persecuted and would be treated wrong in the media is a far stretch.

Point blank this woman was selfish and chose this time to commit suicide so
maybe she is getting what she wanted.......sympathy, a lot of money for her
family, and most of all - the world's spotlight on her!

I agree with justice fleeting; make them pay.

Mob rules mentality wins. Appease the peoples anger and all will be fine. When will it be my turn to get rich because somewhere says something I don't like, or asks me a question. I need a Ferrari. I guess I was in the wrong for not suing that guy who accidentally fell asleep and killed my wife. You never know, I could have been rich.

I read a book about this. It was called the witch trials of Salem.

I doubt it.

It was a matter of honour to her. Can you understand that? They took that away from her, people HAVE killed themselves over A LOT less.

Yep, that's about it unless you add that the two radio DJs have had a lot of guilt dumped on them over this, their show "Hot 30" has been canceled probably along with their jobs, radio advertisers pulled their advertising from the radio station, the radio station is paying the family of the deceased nurse a lot of money and Jacintha is not even the nurse who gave out the very, very harmless information that Kate has not been retching and has been sleeping on and off. Doesn't make a lot of sense, does it?

Dulcevida, She could have taught her children much more about honor by not killing herself. She's not a Samurai in feudal Japan, she was a mother with children that need her. The stupidity level of your comment is offensive.