Case Database
Filter every documented case by date, drug, state, setting, role, prosecution status, and penalty. Search accepts brand or generic drug names, facility names, and cities.
Showing 25 of 730 cases.
| Case / When | Where | Setting | Drug | Method | Role | Prosecution status | Penalty | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Fitchburg Nursing Facility LPN Replaced Hospice Patients' Oxycodone with Lookalike Pills
2026-09-23
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Massachusetts Fitchburg, MA |
A healthcare facility in Fitchburg, MA (skilled nursing and dementia care units; Sept. 2024 – Feb. 2025) | Oxycodone (5 mg and 10 mg tablets) | Took patients' "as needed" oxycodone doses for personal use, then replaced 5 mg pills with lookalike loratadine (an allergy medication) and a memory care patient's 10 mg pills with levothyroxine (a thyroid medication) | not stated | Pleaded guilty Sept. 23, 2026, in federal court in Worcester to one count of tampering with a consumer product (up to 10 years); sentencing set for Jan. 7, 2027 | none documented | source |
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Pittsfield Pharmacist Pleads Guilty to Diverting Adderall from Pharmacy Chain
2026-09-17
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Massachusetts Pittsfield, Massachusetts |
Licensed pharmacist at a national pharmacy chain, Pittsfield, Massachusetts; charged and pleaded in federal court in Boston | Dextroamphetamine (generic Adderall) and Adderall, controlled substances that were intended for the pharmacy's customers | While working as the pharmacy's licensed pharmacist, diverted quantities of dextroamphetamine for his own use on four occasions in August, September and November 2024, and diverted Adderall on November 10, 2024 | not stated | Pleaded guilty on Sept. 17, 2026 to five counts of acquiring a controlled substance by fraud, deception and subterfuge; sentencing scheduled for Dec. 15, 2026 | none documented | source |
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Former Boston-Area ICU Nurse Sentenced for Diverting Fentanyl and Versed from Intubated Patient
2026-01-15
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Massachusetts Needham, Massachusetts |
ICU nurse, Boston-area hospital | Versed (midazolam) and fentanyl | On a July 16, 2022 overnight shift caring for an intubated, immobile ICU patient, checked out a bag of Versed and three bags of fentanyl without scanning them into the patient's medical records; found slumped over with three syringes in her pocket | not stated | Pleaded guilty Nov 2025 to unlawfully obtaining controlled substances by fraud; sentenced Jan 15, 2026 to 3 years probation + 100 hours community service | none documented | source |
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Massachusetts Hospice Nurse Indicted for Swapping Dementia Patient's Oxycodone with Household Cleaner
2025-11-02
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Massachusetts Amesbury, Massachusetts |
RN, long-term care/rehab facility (Amesbury, MA) | Liquid oxycodone | Allegedly removed oxycodone from a non-verbal dementia hospice patient's medication with a syringe around Mar 31, 2025 and replaced it with a household cleaning chemical | not stated | Indicted by federal grand jury Oct 30, 2025 on tampering with a consumer product; arrested Oct 31, pleaded not guilty | none documented | source |
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Traveling Nurse Sentenced for Tampering With Morphine at Massachusetts Rehabilitation Facility
2025-04-04
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Massachusetts Danvers, Massachusetts |
Traveling/contract registered nurse, nursing and rehabilitation facility, Danvers, MA (assignment Dec. 2021-May 2022) | Morphine | Diverted morphine from patient-assigned bottles and diluted the remaining liquid to disguise the theft; caught via a law-enforcement controlled operation comparing bottles before and after her shift | not stated | Pleaded guilty Nov. 2024 to tampering with a consumer product; sentenced April 4, 2025 to 3 months prison plus 2 years supervised release, barred from nursing or controlled-substance-access work | none documented | source |
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Dedham Rehabilitation Center Nurse Tampered with Oxycodone Syringes
2024-09-17
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Massachusetts Dedham, Massachusetts |
Rehabilitation center for long-term chronic and post-acute care, Dedham, Massachusetts | Liquid oxycodone | Removed oxycodone from patient syringes, consumed it, and refilled syringes with water or saline before returning them to medication carts | not stated | Sentenced Sept. 2024 to three years of probation after pleading guilty to tampering with a consumer product | none documented | source |
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Boston-Area ER Nurse Sentenced for 412 Unauthorized Opioid Withdrawals
2023-11-15
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Massachusetts Boston, Massachusetts |
Hospital emergency department | Morphine, fentanyl, hydromorphone | 412 unauthorized cabinet withdrawals billed to 299 already-discharged patients over ~5 months. The 412 unauthorized withdrawals were tied to 299 discharged patients. | not stated | Pleaded guilty; sentenced to 3 months' imprisonment and 1 year supervised release (Nov. 2023) | none documented | source |
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Massachusetts Nursing Home Nurse Sentenced for Diluting a Dementia Patient's Morphine
2023-01-13
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Massachusetts Northborough, Massachusetts |
Nursing home, dementia care unit, Worcester County, Massachusetts | Morphine sulfate | Removed morphine from a resident's bottle during an overnight shift and replaced it with water, and the diluted dose was later administered to the patient | not stated | Sentenced January 2023, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, to 52 months in prison | none documented | source |
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Massachusetts Nurse Sentenced for Tampering With Fentanyl at Hospital and Surgery Center
2023-01-10
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Massachusetts Massachusetts |
Hospital post-surgery recovery unit and outpatient vascular surgery center | Fentanyl | Removed fentanyl from surgical-patient vials and replaced it with saline, leaving vials at 1.3-7% of declared concentration | not stated | Pleaded guilty; sentenced to 5 years' probation (1 year home detention) and a $20,000 fine (Jan. 2023) | $20,000 (criminal fine) | source |
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Former Nurse Pleads Guilty to Diverting Opioids From Two Boston-Area Hospitals
2022-10-04
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Massachusetts Boston, Massachusetts |
Two Boston-area hospitals | Fentanyl and hydromorphone | Stole an in-use patient infusion bag and syringes from a locked drug cabinet across two hospital jobs | not stated | Pleaded guilty to 4 counts; sentencing pending | none documented | source |
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Massachusetts Paramedic Pleads Guilty to Tampering With Ambulance Fentanyl Vials
2022-08-30
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Massachusetts Needham, Massachusetts |
Ambulance service company, Needham, Massachusetts | Fentanyl citrate | Withdrew fentanyl from ambulance-stocked vials and replaced it with saline before the vials were returned to service | not stated | Pleaded guilty to tampering with a consumer product; sentencing scheduled to follow | none documented | source |
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Worcester County Nursing Home Nurse Pleads Guilty to Tampering With a Dementia Patient's Morphine
2022-03-08
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Massachusetts Northborough, Massachusetts |
Nursing home dementia care unit (Worcester County, Massachusetts) | Morphine sulfate | Removed liquid morphine from a patient's bottle and diluted the remainder with water | not stated | Pleaded guilty; sentencing pending | none documented | source |
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Massachusetts ER Nurse Tampered with Hydromorphone and Meperidine
2021-06-29
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Massachusetts West Boylston, Massachusetts |
Hospital emergency department, Massachusetts | Hydromorphone and meperidine | Falsified automated dispensing machine transactions to remove carpujects, punctured them to steal the drugs, and refilled some with saline before returning them to circulation | not stated | Pleaded guilty; sentenced to 1 year and 1 day in prison plus 3 years supervised release | none documented | source |
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Lowell Nursing Home Nurse Diverted Hospice Patients' Liquid Morphine
2021-04-09
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Massachusetts Lowell, Massachusetts |
Nursing home hospice care, Lowell and Melrose, Massachusetts | Liquid morphine | Diverted morphine from bottles prescribed to elderly hospice patients, replacing it with saline or Benadryl and falsifying medication records | not stated | Pleaded guilty; sentenced to 42 months in prison and 3 years supervised release | none documented | source |
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Westfield Nursing Facility Nurse Diluted Hospice Patient's Morphine
2021-03-30
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Massachusetts Westfield, Massachusetts |
Nursing facility (Governor's Center), Westfield, Massachusetts | Liquid morphine | Removed morphine from a hospice patient's prescribed bottle and diluted the remainder with another substance | not stated | Pleaded guilty to tampering with a consumer product; sentencing scheduled for June 2021 | none documented | source |
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VA Hospice Nurse Sentenced for Diluting Dying Veterans' Morphine
2021-02-24
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Massachusetts Bedford, Massachusetts |
Hospice unit, VA Medical Center (Bedford, MA) | Liquid morphine | Diluted patients' morphine doses with tap water, drank the diverted portion | not stated | Pleaded guilty; sentenced Feb 24, 2021 to 40 months | none documented | source |
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Nursing Home Nurse Pleads Guilty to Tampering with Hospice Patient's Oxycodone
2020-10-02
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Massachusetts Dighton, Massachusetts |
Registered nurse, Dighton Care and Rehabilitation Center (Dighton, MA) | Oxycodone — 3 blister-card packages | Removed oxycodone from a hospice patient's blister packs and substituted other pills disguised to look like oxycodone | not stated | Pleaded guilty Oct. 2, 2020 to tampering with a consumer product; sentencing set for Jan. 19, 2021 | none documented | source |
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Nurse Sentenced to 5 Years for Tampering with Hospice Patient's Morphine
2020-09-14
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Massachusetts Danvers / Amesbury, Massachusetts |
RN, Hunt Nursing and Rehab (Danvers, MA) + Maplewood Care and Rehab (Amesbury, MA) | Morphine sulfate | Extracted morphine from patients' prescribed bottles, diluted to as little as 1.2%-26% of prescribed concentration by refilling with another liquid | not stated | Pleaded guilty Jul 2019; sentenced to 60 months + 3 yrs supervised release | none documented | source |
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Haverhill Nurse Sentenced for Tampering with Hospice Patient's Morphine
2019-12-18
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Massachusetts Amesbury, Massachusetts |
Nursing home / hospice care facility | Morphine sulfate | Nurse extracted morphine from a hospice patient's prescribed bottles for personal use and replaced it with cough syrup to mask the theft | not stated | Sentenced to 54 months in federal prison | none documented | source |
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Massachusetts Paramedic Pleads Guilty to Tampering with Ambulance Fentanyl
2017-06-22
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Massachusetts Rowley, Massachusetts |
Private ambulance company (Rowley, MA) | Fentanyl — ambulance patient supply, 650+ vials | Stole vials outright for personal use; separately withdrew fentanyl from patient-bound vials and replaced with saline | not stated | Pleaded guilty Jun 22, 2017; sentenced Nov 2017 to 30 months + 3 years supervised release | none documented | source |
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Traveling nurse surrendered license after admitting to stealing fentanyl from Massachusetts hospital
2017
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Massachusetts Newburyport, MA |
Anna Jaques Hospital | fentanyl, morphine, hydromorphone | Stealing fentanyl, morphine and hydromorphone from the hospital; admitted to stealing 27 doses of fentanyl for patients already discharged. | not stated | Surrendered license as a traveling nurse in 2017. | none documented | source |
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Tufts Medical Center Pays $100,000 to Settle Controlled Substances Recordkeeping Violations
2016-09-20
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Massachusetts Boston, Massachusetts |
Tufts Medical Center (Boston, MA) | Controlled substances generally — losses tied to three former nurses | Inaccurate inventories/records, uncontrolled prescription pads, untimely DEA theft/loss reporting | not stated | Civil settlement, $100,000 — announced Sep 20, 2016; 3 years of warrantless DEA inspections | $100,000 (civil settlement) | source |
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Worcester Nurse Pleads Guilty to Stealing Oxycodone from Nursing Home Patients
2015-11-05
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Massachusetts Worcester, Massachusetts |
Nursing care facility (Worcester, MA) | Oxycodone tablets, three patients | Stole prescribed tablets, substituted look-alike antihistamine/antidepressant pills | not stated | Pleaded guilty Nov 5, 2015; faced up to 4 years in prison | none documented | source |
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Massachusetts General Hospital Pays $2.3M in Drug Diversion Settlement
2015-09-28
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Massachusetts Boston, Massachusetts |
Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, MA) | Oxycodone and other pills — ~16,000 stolen by two nurses; 20,000+ records discrepancy | Inadequate monitoring and access controls on automated dispensing machines; incomplete recordkeeping | not stated | Civil settlement, $2.3 million — announced Sep 28, 2015 | $2,300,000 (civil settlement) | source |
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Psychiatric Hospital Settles Unregistered Methadone Clinic Allegations — Massachusetts, 2011
2011-09-27
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Massachusetts Georgetown, Massachusetts |
Baldpate Hospital, a private psychiatric hospital in Georgetown, MA | Methadone | Operated an unregistered narcotic treatment clinic; failed to maintain required methadone records/inventories | not stated | Civil settlement with DEA/U.S. Attorney's Office | $29,500 (civil settlement) | source |
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What each column does and doesn't cover
Every case states When (date) and Where (state) — 730 of 730. Beyond that, a blank cell means the source record does not state that fact, not that it did not happen:
- Setting: stated in 649 of 730 cases (89%)
- Drug: stated in 657 of 730 cases (90%)
- Method: stated in 474 of 730 cases (65%)
- Prosecution status: stated in 474 of 730 cases (65%); a documented penalty (fine, settlement, or restitution) exists for 77 of 730 cases (11%)
- Role: stated in only 255 of 730 cases (35%) — filtering or sorting by role silently hides the rest of the registry, which may still describe the same role in prose without a structured field
Why: documented failure modes
A separate text analysis of the 723 case summaries found 371 cases (51.3%) matching at least one named failure-mode pattern below. 352 cases (48.7% of 723) matched none of these categories - most of these are short board-order summaries ("licensee diverted controlled substances from their employer") that state an outcome without describing a mechanism, not cases where no failure occurred. A case can match zero, one, or several categories — these are corpus-level counts, not a per-case tag, and are not used as a row filter above: reproducing the exact category membership per case from the stored patterns did not exactly match this file's hand-curated counts on independent re-check, so no individual case here is labeled with a "why" that this code cannot verify.
Drug swapped for a substitute and the container returned to circulation
137 of 723
Text names an act of replacing/refilling the drug with a named substitute (saline, water, an OTC pill, a cleaning product, etc.), OR uses swap/dilute/tamper to describe the same act, so the altered container went back into use looking unchanged.
Outright theft or embezzlement of stock (no substitution described)
120 of 723
Text uses stole/stealing/embezzled to describe removal of controlled substances.
Records, charts, orders, inventories, or receipts falsified to conceal the diversion
58 of 723
Text uses a form of "falsif-" within 60 characters of a record-type noun (chart, inventory, transaction, receipt, prescription, etc.).
Prescriptions fraudulent, forged, invalid, or written outside legitimate medical practice
53 of 723
Text explicitly characterizes the prescription(s) as fraudulent, forged, invalid, or issued outside legitimate medical practice (including "pill mill" language).
Automated dispensing cabinet used as the point of exploitation
30 of 723
Text names an automated dispensing cabinet/machine, or the acronym ADC, as part of the mechanism.
Waste/wastage claim used to cover the diversion, or wastage not witnessed
38 of 723
Text describes recording or claiming drug as "waste" (when it was not), pulling drug from a waste stream, or wastage that was not independently witnessed.
Cancelled, voided, or falsely entered dispensing-system transactions to hide the removal
11 of 723
Text describes cancelling, voiding, or falsely entering a system transaction (an order, a return-to-stock entry, a cancel entry) specifically to conceal a removal.
Facility-level failure to maintain accurate inventory or required records (not one employee concealing a theft)
24 of 723
Text states the FACILITY (not an individual concealing personal use) failed to maintain required inventory/records, or names a recordkeeping violation/negligent recordkeeping as the basis for the government action.
Drug obtained using a false identity, a fictitious patient, or impersonation
11 of 723
Text describes using a fictitious patient profile, a false name/identity, stolen patient information, or impersonating a licensed prescriber to obtain the drug.
Known or suspected loss/theft/diversion not reported to DEA or a licensing board
10 of 723
Text states a failure to notify or report a loss, theft, or suspected diversion to a regulator.
Disclaimer
Case summaries are based on public records (DOJ press releases, court documents, news reports). Charges are allegations unless a conviction is noted. Analysis is educational, not legal advice.
Last reviewed: September 2026 · Content is educational, not legal advice.