INDIANAPOLIS – A former nurse has been sentenced to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to taking medicine from emergency room patients and keeping it for herself, injecting them with saline instead.
According to court documents, Jennifer Adams, 38, of Whitestown, tampered with vials of injectable pain medications while employed as a registered nurse in the emergency room at Franciscan Health in Crawfordsville.
The medications Adams tampered with include fentanyl, morphine, hydromorphone and ketamine.
Police say by using an automated medication dispensing machine, Adams accessed the medications without authorization and used them herself.
To cover her tracks, she refilled the vials of medicine with saline solution and super glued the lids back on.
According to court documents, Adams used the saline solution on 30 to 40 unaware patients who were admitted to the hospital and were in need of pain relief.
An investigation found that Adams tampered with between two and seven vials of medicine during each shift that she worked.
“Emergency room patients depend on healthcare providers to give them the medicines they need. This defendant abused her position of trust to steal powerful prescription pain medications and give patients saline instead,” Zachary Myers, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, said.
Adams will be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for three years following her release from prison and pay a $1,000 fine.
-
I have a frozen Thanksgiving turkey. When should I thaw it?
Do you have a large Thanksgiving turkey in your freezer taking up space? Learn when you should move it to the fridge.
Local Boy Scout thanks first responders with large popcorn donation
Thanking first responders who put their lives on the line for the community is what a local Boy Scout did through a donation to IMPD's Mobile Crisis Assistance Team.
New details emerge about the Department of Government Efficiency's proposed cuts
How much will the Department of Government Efficiency change the country's federal government? Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are revealing new details about how it will work and how long it will take.
3 shot, 1 killed on Indy’s northwest side
Three people were shot, leaving one of them dead, on the northwest side of Indianapolis on Thursday night.
