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The primary lawsuit introduced amid stories {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 dying go well with was filed Monday in opposition to Asante Rogue Regional Medical Middle in Medford, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. It additionally names nurse Dani Marie Schofield as a defendant.
Final month, Medford police disclosed that they had been investigating potential crimes in opposition to sufferers involving the theft of “managed substances,” which can have led to “opposed” outcomes for some.
Fentanyl is a strong artificial opioid that has helped gasoline the nation’s overdose epidemic, however it’s also utilized in reputable medical settings to alleviate extreme ache. Drug theft from hospitals is a longstanding drawback.
Police declined to offer extra info. Schofield agreed to a voluntary nursing license suspension final November “pending the completion of an investigation,” in response to Oregon Board of Nursing information. No expenses have been filed.
Justin Idiart, a southern Oregon lawyer, advised The Oregonian/OregonLive that he represents 9 shoppers whose medicine was swapped out, and 5 others have reached out for attainable illustration. They embody the family members of sufferers who died in addition to some who survived. All of his shoppers had been handled by Schofield, he mentioned.
Different native legislation companies even have been exploring litigation. Attorneys say they count on as many as three dozen circumstances might be filed.
The hospital didn’t instantly return an electronic mail from The Related Press searching for remark Tuesday. The AP couldn’t instantly find contact info for Schofield, and it was not clear if Schofield is represented by an lawyer.
“We had been distressed to study of this concern,” Asante mentioned in an announcement final month. “We reported it to legislation enforcement and are working intently with them.”
Idiart filed the lawsuit in Jackson County Circuit Court docket over the dying 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 docs then famous “unexplained excessive fevers, very excessive white blood cell counts, and a precipitous decline,” the grievance mentioned. Assessments confirmed an an infection of treatment-resistant micro organism, Staphylococcus epidermidis. Wilson progressed to multi-system organ failure and died weeks later.
Idiart mentioned sufferers who had been disadvantaged of medicine suffered on account of the medicine diversion. In Wilson’s case, his household believed he was in ache although 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 opposed affected person outcomes,” the grievance mentioned.
That month, hospital representatives “started contacting sufferers and their kinfolk telling them a nurse had changed fentanyl with faucet water inflicting bacterial infections,” it mentioned.
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