MEDFORD, Ore. – A former Asante nurse is in jail Thursday in connection to a months-long investigation into suspected drug diversion that impacted patient health at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center.
According to the Medford Police Department, 36-year-old Dani Marie Schofield was arrested at a location in the 5000 block of Rogue River Drive outside of Eagle Point.
Police say there was concern that Schofield had been replacing liquid fentanyl meant for patients with tap water, causing serious infections. They believe Schofield was diverting the drug for her own personal use.
During in internal investigation by Asante, the hospital system discovered that all the identified cases were isolated to patients in the ICU and occurred between July 2022 and July 2023, all of which investigators say Schofield had access to.
Above: MPD Full Press Conference.
NBC5 News broke the story back in December when MPD launched its investigation into claims of drug diversion at Asante RRMC. During which, investigators spent months looking through hospital records, interviewing doctors, nurses, patients and many of those affected. Police also say they contacted Schofield early in their investigation.
MPD submitted the results of its investigation to the Jackson County District Attorney’s office in April. Then on Wednesday, following a review, the Grand Jury issued an intent to indict Schofield on 44 counts of assault in the second-degree. This number reflects the amount of patients the investigation indicated were impacted by Schofield’s criminal actions.
According to a press release from MPD, the charges are a result of “evidence that indicates that Schofield’s actions resulted in injury to impacted patients.” It went onto say that assault in the second-degree means a person intentionally or knowingly caused serious physical injury to another person.
During the investigation, MPD combed through patient and hospital records, pathology reports and consulted with several medical experts, who all agreed “the questionable deaths associated with this case could not be directly attributed to the infections.”
According to a press release from the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office, this is the highest charge the evidence in this case can support. The DA also says, “in a prosecution for any degree of homicide (e.g., murder, manslaughter, or criminal negligent homicide), the State is required to prove that the actions of the person charged were the cause of death of the victim.”
Schofield left Asante in July 2023.
She is currently in the Jackson County Jail and is set to be arraigned Friday at 1:45 p.m.
MPD will hold a press conference this afternoon at 3:30 and NBC5 News will have a reporter there.
Tune in tonight for complete coverage including sound from the Medford Police Department.
There is no further information at this time.
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.