A massive US$303-million lawsuit has been filed against an Oregon hospital, claiming that a nurse employed there stole prescription fentanyl and replaced it with non-sterile tap water in intravenous drips, causing several people to die from bacterial infections.
The suit represents 18 plaintiffs: nine living patients, as well as the estates of nine patients who died after receiving care from the Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford, Ore. The plaintiffs allege that the hospital was negligent and failed to monitor medication administration procedures and prevent drug diversion by their employees, among other claims.
The nurse at the centre of the scandal is Dani Marie Schofield, 36, who was arrested in June and charged with 44 counts of second-degree assault. Police began investigating Schofield in December last year after the hospital noticed a troubling spike in central line infections between July 2022 and July 2023.
An internal probe found that Schofield had access to all of the patients that suffered infections and investigators suggested that she was diverting patients’ prescribed fentanyl for personal use, CBS News reports. Schofield left her position at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in July 2023, and she agreed to a voluntary suspension of her nursing licence in November.
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that has helped fuel the U.S. and Canada’s overdose epidemic, but it is also used in legitimate medical settings to relieve severe pain. Drug theft from hospitals is a longstanding problem.
Schofield has pleaded not guilty to all 44 counts of assault. Her trial date has not yet been set, according to Oregon Live.
According to the lawsuit filed Tuesday, the 18 plaintiffs were informed in December 2023 that an employee of Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center had replaced fentanyl with tap water, causing bacterial infections.
“All Plaintiff Patients were infected with bacterium uniquely associated with waterborne transmission,” the complaint says.
All of the plaintiffs experienced mental anguish, according to the suit, which seeks millions of dollars in damages for medical expenses, lost income and the pain and suffering of those who died.
The nine patients who died were Joy Manzo, Samuel Allison, Michelle Wood, Douglas Young, Roberta Porter, Herman Sheperd, Kelly Moore, Linda Becker and Marlene Murphy, Oregon Live reports. The nine plaintiffs who survived are Patrick Lewallen, Zachariah Roberts, Justine Siemens, Rebecca Olson, Allan Kissee, Jared Phipps, Daniel Clarke, Thomas Weisel and Bronson Pickett.
The suit claims that the Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center should have known there was a “high likelihood of drug misuse by its employees given that Asante had had repeated instances of drug misuse by its employees in the past” and alleges that the hospital allowed “tap water to have unreasonable levels of harmful bacteria.”
— With files from The Associated Press