What Happened
The Missouri State Board of Nursing revoked a registered nurse's license after finding she diverted morphine and hydromorphone at Mercy Hospital East by extracting drug residue from vials and refilling them with saline to conceal the theft, then continued to access the hospital numerous times after being suspended, before a circuit court later ordered the board to issue a probated license instead.
What the Record Shows
Extracted drug residue from vials after administering patient doses and refilled the vials with an identical amount of saline solution to conceal the theft; also retrieved used vials from medical waste containers; after suspension, accessed the hospital 127 times over 18 days using her employee badge, and a drug test returned positive for morphine Missouri Board of Nursing revoked the license on July 5, 2022; a circuit court reversed the board's order on January 29, 2023, and the board issued a probated license per the court's order on April 3, 2023
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.