What Happened
A contract registered nurse was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison for stealing morphine prescribed to three elderly, seriously ill patients at an Anderson County, Kentucky healthcare facility and replacing it with a mixture of water and blue food coloring made to resemble the real medication.
What the Record Shows
On August 27, 2023, took morphine prescribed for three patients with significant disease and pain concerns and replaced it with water and blue food coloring made to resemble the real medication; took at least seven syringes of stolen morphine and administered the tampered substitute to at least one patient Sentenced March 24, 2025, to 60 months in federal prison for tampering with a consumer product, plus three years of supervised release
Why It Matters for Diversion Programs
This entry comes from a primary licensing-board or law-enforcement record rather than a secondary aggregator, and it is recorded as reported. Board and news records are a lagging indicator - by the time a licensing authority or reporter learns of a diversion, the diversion was normally detected internally first, which makes each entry a signal that inventory reconciliation, waste observation, or dispensing oversight failed earlier.