A former Oregon intensive care unit nurse was arrested and faces 44 counts of assault charges for allegedly swapping fentanyl with water, NBC News reported.
Dani Mari Schofield has been arrested and charged with 44 counts of second-degree assault for allegedly swapping patients’ pain medication with tap water, according to NBC News. The Medford Police Department announced the charges Thursday, which correspond to the number of patients affected by Schofield’s actions at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center.
The allegations surfaced nearly seven months ago when the 378-bed hospital reported an unusual increase in central line infections among patients, the outlet reported. These infections raised concerns that Schofield had been diverting liquid fentanyl for personal use and replacing it with tap water, leading to serious infections.
Former ICU nurse is arrested on suspicion of replacing fentanyl with tap water https://t.co/zMye6nJWTb via @nbcnews
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Police did not disclose the number of fatalities among the affected patients. However, a lawsuit filed in March on behalf of Horace Wilson’s estate highlighted one such case, NBC News reported. Wilson, who died after being admitted with a lacerated spleen and broken ribs, allegedly received non-sterile tap water instead of pain medication, resulting in a fatal bloodstream infection.
The lawsuit, which names both Asante and Schofield, accuses them of negligence. Both defendants have yet to respond to the allegations publicly, the outlet stated. The case involves drug diversion, where prescribed medications are misappropriated, often for abuse or illegal sale. (RELATED: Nurse Under Investigation After Patient’s Fentanyl Drip Replaced With Tap Water, According To Lawsuit)
The entrance of the Intensive Care Unit inside in North Oaks Hospital is seen in Hammond, Louisiana, on August 13, 2021. – Barely clinging to life, patients in an intensive care unit in Hammond, Louisiana, lie in their beds, gray and emaciated, their faces marked by the tight grip of respirators and the ravages of Covid-19. (Photo by EMILY KASK/AFP via Getty Images)
Schofield, who left Asante in July 2023, agreed to a nursing license suspension in Nov. 2023, pending the investigation’s outcome, according to the Oregon State Board of Nursing, NBC News reported. Following Schofield’s arrest, Asante’s President and CEO, Tom Gessel, expressed gratitude to law enforcement for their extensive investigation.
“We are greatly appreciative of the countless hours their investigators have spent on this complex matter,” Gessel wrote in an internal memo, according to NBC News.
