A 32-year-old Haverhill nurse is facing up to 10 years behind bars after being charged in a Boston federal court with tampering with patients’ morphine while working at two Massachusetts care facilities.
Brianna Duffy was indicted on one count of tampering with a consumer product and one count of acquiring a controlled substance by fraud or deception, United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling’s office tells WHAV in a statement.
According to court documents, Duffy is said to have tampered with the medication prescribed to an 89-year-old hospice patient at Hunt Nursing and Rehab in Danvers over two days in March, replacing the extracted medication with another liquid. As a result, the medication was diluted to just 26 percent of the prescribed concentration.
The patient was given the diluted dose and suffered “unnecessary pain,” Lelling’s said.
Duffy is also said to have tampered with morphine while employed as a registered nurse at Amesbury’s Maplewood Care and Rehabilitation Center from December 2016-July 2017. As a result, a 68-year-old patient was dosed medication with 1.2 to 2.5 percent of the intended concentration.
Duffy tested positive for morphine on July 18, 2017, Lelling’s office said.
If convicted, Duffy faces up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.