Oregon nurse changed affected person’s fentanyl drip with faucet water, wrongful demise lawsuit alleges

The primary lawsuit introduced amid experiences {that a} nurse at a southern Oregon hospital changed intravenous fentanyl drips with faucet water seeks as much as $11.5 million on behalf of the property of a 65-year-old man who died.

The wrongful demise go well with was filed Monday towards Asante Rogue Regional Medical Middle in Medford, CBS affiliate KOIN-TV reported. It additionally names nurse Dani Marie Schofield as a defendant.

Final month, Medford police disclosed that they have been investigating potential crimes towards sufferers involving the theft of “managed substances,” which can have led to “hostile” outcomes for some.

Fentanyl is a strong artificial opioid that has helped gasoline the nation’s overdose epidemic, however it is usually utilized in reliable medical settings to alleviate extreme ache. Drug theft from hospitals is a longstanding downside.

Police declined to supply extra data. Schofield agreed to a voluntary nursing license suspension final November “pending the completion of an investigation,” in response to Oregon Board of Nursing data. No prices have been filed.

Justin Idiart, a southern Oregon lawyer, instructed The Oregonian/OregonLive that he represents 9 purchasers whose medicine was swapped out, and 5 others have reached out for potential illustration. They embrace the family members of sufferers who died in addition to some who survived. All of his purchasers have been handled by Schofield, he mentioned.

Different native legislation companies even have been exploring litigation. Attorneys say they anticipate as many as three dozen instances could possibly be filed.

The hospital didn’t instantly return an e mail from The Related Press searching for remark Tuesday. The AP couldn’t instantly find contact data for Schofield, and it was not clear if Schofield is represented by an legal professional.

“We have been distressed to study of this difficulty,” Asante mentioned in a press release final month. “We reported it to legislation enforcement and are working carefully with them.”

Idiart filed the lawsuit in Jackson County Circuit Court docket over the demise of Horace E. Wilson, who died in February 2022. Wilson, the founding father of a hashish firm known as Decibel Farms in Jacksonville, Oregon, was handled on the hospital after he fell off a ladder. He suffered bleeding from his spleen and had it eliminated.

However medical doctors then famous “unexplained excessive fevers, very excessive white blood cell counts, and a precipitous decline,” the grievance mentioned.

The medical heart ordered Schofield to manage fentanyl to the affected person beginning on Jan. 29, KOIN-TV reported, citing courtroom paperwork. Plaintiffs are alleging the nurse changed the fentanyl with non-sterile faucet water, bringing extra micro organism into his bloodstream.

Assessments confirmed an an infection of treatment-resistant micro organism, Staphylococcus epidermidis. Wilson progressed to multi-system organ failure and died weeks later.

Court docket paperwork mentioned the hospital reported three central-line related bloodstream infections in 2021, which surged to fifteen instances in 2022, KOIN reported. Plaintiffs additionally allege Asante admitted the infections have been linked to micro organism in April 2023, KOIN reported, however the firm did not report water contamination at any of its medical facilities.

Idiart mentioned sufferers who have been disadvantaged of medicine suffered because of the medicine diversion. In Wilson’s case, his household believed he was in ache though he was alleged to be sedated, Idiart mentioned.

Asante final December contacted Medford police relating to a former worker “that they imagine was concerned within the theft of fentanyl prescribed to sufferers leading to some hostile affected person outcomes,” the grievance mentioned.

That month, hospital representatives “started contacting sufferers and their kin telling them a nurse had changed fentanyl with faucet water inflicting bacterial infections,” it mentioned.

“We proceed to request the general public’s persistence as we attempt to know the complete implications of those allegations and their results on these concerned,” Medford Police mentioned in a press release, KOIN reported.