Nurse secretly replaced hospital fentanyl and used superglue to cover tracks, feds say
A Wisconsin nurse reportedly tampered with medications at a hospital, secretly swapping one kind for another, federal officials said.
The nurse, a 54-year-old woman from Janesville, replaced fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, with saline, a mixture of salt and water, while working at a local hospital in 2021, according to a May 8 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Wisconsin.
An attorney for the nurse could not immediately be reached for comment by McClatchy News.
After replacing the vials of fentanyl with a saline solution, she apparently resealed the containers with “what appeared to be superglue” to cover her tracks, officials said.
Afterwards, she placed the tampered vials into the hospital’s automated dispensing system, meaning some hospital patients would receive the wrong medication.
Those experiencing severe pain, often cancer patients, are prescribed fentanyl, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A subsequent investigation into the nurse’s transactions on the dispensing system revealed a pattern of fentanyl waste, officials said.
When confronted by hospital officials and asked to submit to a drug test, the nurse declined and resigned instead, according to the release.
She pleaded guilty to a charge of product tampering on May 8 following an investigation by the Food and Drug Administration and Drug Enforcement Administration, officials said.
Her plea agreement includes a recommended sentence of 18 months in prison and a $30,000 fine. The maximum penalty for the charge is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A date for her plea hearing has not yet been scheduled.
Multiple medical workers across the country have been charged with tampering with fentanyl supplies in recent years.
A Kansas City health worker was sentenced to a year in prison in March for allegedly stealing fentanyl from two hospitals, according to KMBC. And a Colorado paramedic was sentenced to three years in prison for reportedly stealing over 1,000 vials of fentanyl, CBS News Colorado reported.
Fentanyl, like other opioids, can be highly addictive, according to the American Addiction Centers, and because medical professionals have increased access to the drug, theft has been a “major issue” in hospitals.
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