New York, January 5: A nurse at an Oregon hospital is suspected of causing the deaths of up to 10 patients by replacing their fentanyl IV drips with tap water. The police are probing the case of medication theft at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford, which was reported by hospital officials last month. They said a former employee had taken the pain medication for personal use and injected the patients with unsterile water instead.

The New York Post reported, according to NBC affiliate KOBI, sources said that the patients died from infections caused by the tap water, which could lead to sepsis, pneumonia, and organ failure. The sources said that the nurse had been doing this since the fall of 2022. Two relatives of the deceased patients told KOBI that the hospital had informed them of the cause of death. US Shocker: Nurse Charged With Killing Two Patients Through Excessive Insulin Doses Confesses To Attempting to Murder 19 More People in Pennsylvania.

The Medford police confirmed that they were investigating at least one case of adverse patient care at the hospital, but did not reveal the number of deaths or injuries. They also did not say if the deaths were directly linked to the medication tampering. “We don’t know that that resulted in deaths,” they said. The police said they had contacted the affected patients.

The hospital expressed its distress over the issue and said it was cooperating with the law enforcement. The Oregon Health Authority said it was looking into the reports of healthcare-associated infections that may have killed or harmed several patients. It is not clear if anyone has been arrested in connection with the incident. US: Nurse Sustains 'Crushing Injuries' After She Gets Trapped Between MRI Machine and Bed in Freak Accident (Watch Video).

In another incident, a former Pennsylvania nurse who had been accused of killing two patients with excessive doses of insulin confessed to trying to kill 19 additional people at several locations. Officials said that 41-year-old Heather Pressdee admitted to the authorities that she had intended to kill three patients in her care with insulin doses in May, resulting in her arrest on two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 05, 2024 11:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).