An Oregon nurse faces assault charges that she stole fentanyl and replaced IV drips with tap water
A former nurse at an Oregon hospital is facing criminal charges that she harmed nearly four dozen patients by stealing fentanyl and replacing it with non-sterile tap water in intravenous drips
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — A former nurse at a southern Oregon hospital is facing criminal charges that she harmed nearly four dozen patients by stealing fentanyl and replacing it with non-sterile tap water in intravenous drips.
Many of the patients developed serious infections, and 16 of them died, but authorities said they did not pursue murder, manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide charges because investigators could not establish that the infections caused those deaths. The patients were already vulnerable and being treated in the hospital's intensive care unit, the Medford Police Department noted.
Dani Marie Schofield, 36, a former nurse at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford, was arrested last week and instead charged with 44 counts of second-degree assault. She pleaded not guilty on Friday and was being held on $4 million bail, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
“After review of hospital records, patient records and pathology reports, MPD consulted with multiple medical experts, who each agreed that questionable deaths associated with this case could not be directly attributed to the infections,” the police department said in a news release.
