An Oregon medical institution is facing a $300 million lawsuit over the alleged acts of a nurse who swapped liquid fentanyl for nonsterile tap water, resulting in the deaths of several patients.
Dani Marie Schofield was arrested in June and charged with 44 counts of assault after allegedly stealing liquid fentanyl prescribed to patients and replacing it with tap water. Between July 2022 and July 2023, when Schofield left the medical center, dozens of patients allegedly contracted dangerous infections, resulting in numerous deaths, according to Medford police.
Law&Crime reviewed the wrongful death and negligence complaint, which sought $303 million in damages. Attorneys for the plaintiffs represent the interests of at least 18 former patients, including nine who survived Schofield’s alleged torture and the families of nine who died.
“All Plaintiff Patients were infected with bacterium uniquely associated with waterborne transmission,” it states in the complaint. According to the lawsuit, the hospital neglected to plan for the likelihood of employee theft of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is considered to be a primary cause of drug overdose deaths.
“Defendant Asante knew or should have known of the high likelihood of drug misuse by its employees given the prevalence of such acts throughout the United States,” according to the lawsuit. It also stated that the hospital disclosed “repeated instances of drug misuse by its employees in the past.”
According to the complaint, Schofield’s conduct caused the patients to “suffer pain that they would not have suffered and for durations that they would not have otherwise had to endure.”
Schofield is not included as a defendant in the litigation.
“We will get justice for these people and make sure this never happens again,” stated the plaintiffs’ attorney, David de Villeneuve, in an email to Law&Crime.
The seven-month investigation against Schofield began in early December 2023, when administrators from Asante Rogue Regional Hospital called the police and expressed worry about the “rising number of central line infection cases” they were observed among patients receiving care.
The hospital performed an internal investigation with the assistance of independent medical specialists and established that all of the infection cases were limited to patients in the Intensive Care Unit and occurred between a certain date period. That report was given to the cops.
Investigators stated that they spent months “pouring through volumes of hospital records” and interviewed over 100 people, including doctors, nurses, patients, and many of the victims.
“Based on records and interviews, investigators were able to determine that ICU nurse Schofield had access to each of these victims,” according to a press release from the time. “There were concerns that Schofield had been diverting patients’ liquid fentanyl for her use and then replacing it with tap water, resulting in dangerous infections. Schofield departed Asante in July 2023.”
Schofield is not mentioned in this action, but she was named in one filed in February by Horace Wilson’s estate. Wilson was taken to the Asante ICU in January 2022 after falling from a ladder, resulting in a lacerated spleen and damaged ribs, NBC News reported. According to the lawsuit, Schofield substituted Wilson’s pain medication with tap water, causing a bacterial blood infection that killed him.
A pretrial hearing in the criminal case is scheduled for December, according to online documents. Schofield secured $4 million bail in July, according to local media sources.