Oregon Nurse Swapped Patient’s Pain Medications with Tap Water leaving Fentanyl for Personal Use: Arrested by Authorities
Medford, OR: A former nurse has been arrested for allegedly tampering with patients’ pain medication, according to local police.
Dani Mari Schofield is facing 44 counts of assault in the second degree. These charges are a result of an investigation that uncovered the extent of Schofield’s criminal actions, affecting multiple patients. The Medford Police Department has provided a statement regarding the matter.
Charges of assault in the second-degree are brought against individuals who intentionally or knowingly cause serious physical injury to another, according to the statement.
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Authorities made the arrest almost seven months after officials at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center, a 378-bed hospital in Medford, reached out to the police regarding their concerns about an increasing number of central line infections among patients. Central lines are commonly used to deliver medication through large veins.
According to a police statement released on Thursday, there were concerns about Schofield’s alleged actions of diverting patients’ liquid fentanyl for personal use and substituting it with tap water, resulting in severe infections.
The police did not disclose the number of patients who had passed away due to the alleged mistreatment by Schofield. In March, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of the estate of Horace Wilson, an Asante patient who passed away after being admitted to the hospital with a lacerated spleen and broken ribs following a ladder fall in January 2022.
A lawsuit claimed that during Wilson’s hospitalization, his pain medication was switched with nonsterile tap water, which resulted in the introduction of bacteria into his bloodstream and ultimately led to his death.
Both Asante and Schofield have been named as defendants in the lawsuit, which alleges negligence on their part. Both parties did not provide any comments when requested.
There has been a reported case of a patient’s unfortunate demise at Asante, which is believed to be linked to a nurse’s alleged diversion of their pain medication.
An attorney representing Schofield, who police reported left Asante in July 2023, has not yet responded to a voicemail requesting a comment as per NBC News.
In November 2023, Schofield voluntarily agreed to a nursing license suspension as the Oregon State Board of Nursing conducted an investigation.
