Nurse used pain medicine meant for patients and left saline in its place, feds say
.jpg "A registered nurse used pain medication meant for patients at a facility in Massachusetts, federal prosecutors say.")
A registered nurse used pain medicine meant for patients and replaced the missing drugs with saline at a Massachusetts rehabilitation center, federal prosecutors said.
She removed liquid oxycodone from syringes, then refilled the syringes with saline and returned them to medication carts shared by other nurses at the facility in Dedham from February 2020 through May 2020, according to court documents.
It’s possible patients were given saline instead of the narcotic as a result, prosecutors said.
Although the nurse didn’t administer the diluted medication to patients, other nurses might have unknowingly done so, according to the woman’s plea agreement.
The woman, 44, of Dedham, has pleaded guilty in Boston federal court to tampering with a consumer product, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts announced in a Jan. 16 news release.
She’s no longer working as a nurse.
McClatchy News contacted Keith S. Halpern, the woman’s court-appointed defense attorney for comment Jan. 17 and didn’t receive an immediate response.
The woman also consumed unused painkillers, including oxycodone pills, at the rehab center “during most of her shifts” between February 2020 and May 2020, according to her plea agreement.
The center’s staff was supposed to dispose of any unused pills, but the woman used them instead, the plea agreement says.
Oxycodone, a schedule II narcotic, is a powerful opioid approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for pain management, according to the National Library of Medicine. The medication’s use can lead to physical dependence and addiction.
When the FDA’s Forensic Chemistry Center tested 44 syringes on medication carts used by the woman at the rehab center, results revealed 40 were diluted, according to the woman’s plea agreement.
These syringes had between 2% and 33% of the liquid oxycodone that was supposed to be inside, the plea agreement says.
A sentencing hearing for the woman is set for April 4, prosecutors said.
The charge of tampering with a consumer product carries a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine, according to prosecutors.
Dedham is about 15 miles southwest of Boston.
What to know about US opioid crisis
Overdoses are a leading cause of injury-related death in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In 2021, there were more than 51,000 overdose deaths in the country, according to CDC data. In the past 21 years, drug overdoses have killed more than 932,000 people, the CDC reported.
“The majority of overdose deaths involve opioids. Deaths involving synthetic opioids (largely illicitly made fentanyl) and stimulants (such as cocaine and methamphetamine) have increased in recent years,” the CDC said. “For every drug overdose that results in death, there are many more nonfatal overdoses, each one with its own emotional and economic toll.”
Millions of people in the U.S. have an opioid addiction, according to the CDC. Addiction is a “chronic and relapsing disease that can affect anyone.”
This story was originally published January 17, 2024 at 12:47 PM with the headline "Nurse used pain medicine meant for patients and left saline in its place, feds say."
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