A registered nurse who worked in the emergency room of a Detroit-area hospital pleaded guilty in federal court in the Eastern District of Michigan to tampering with a consumer product, the Schedule II controlled substance fentanyl. The plea was announced by the United States Attorney's Office together with the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigations.
According to the plea, the nurse removed fentanyl from vials that were meant to be administered to emergency room patients, replaced the drug with another liquid, and put the tampered vials back into the hospital's locked drug storage system. The nurse admitted doing so with reckless disregard for the danger this posed to patients, and also admitted stealing fentanyl vials as part of a pattern of thefts over several months.
The hospital discovered the tampering and thefts in August 2022 and immediately removed the nurse from the position. The press release does not detail the specific method by which the hospital identified the problem.
The nurse's bond was continued with conditions that included not seeking employment as a nurse; a bond condition is not a penalty. Sentencing was scheduled for September 11, 2025, with the actual sentence to be decided by the court after considering the federal sentencing guidelines.