A New England nurse pleaded not guilty last week to replacing a hospice patient’s oxycodone with a household cleaner.
Lori Robertson worked at a long-term care facility in Amesbury, Massachusetts, Boston.com reported. Court documents say she was charged in federal court with one count of tampering with a consumer product.
The incident took place in the spring, federal authorities say. Robertson is accused of using a syringe to remove liquid oxycodone from a prescription bottle for a non-verbal dementia patient and replacing it with the cleaner.
“Lori Robertson, with reckless disregard for the risk that another person would be placed in danger of death and bodily injury, and under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to such risk, did tamper with a consumer product that affected interstate commerce,” charging documents say.
The documents do not say if the cleaner was administered to the patient or how officials discovered the switch.
Robertson, 65, was released from custody and ordered to have not contact with victims or witnesses, not use alcohol or other substances, submit to a drug test, and undergo a substance abuse treatment program.
She faces up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 if she is convicted, the Boston Herald said.
Robertson is due back in court again on November 24.
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