An accused nurse in Medford, Oregon, mixed up the medicinal fentanyl in patients’ intravenous lines with tap water, leading to at least one fatality. The incident is under investigation by the police.
Ten people may have perished from diseases caused by pseudomonas or other deadly germs due to the non-sterile water, according to sources at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center.
According to the CDC, pseudomonas, a germ, can be found in many natural places, including soil and water. The most common kind of Pseudomonas infection in humans is Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which may cause blood infections, pneumonia, and various post-operative infections.
Although two victims’ relatives had verified their loved ones’ deaths, authorities were only looking into one tragedy.
A news organization said that anonymous medical sources had verified the injuries suffered by scores of patients due to the substitution of one drug for another in their medications. According to the reports, a nurse had taken their fentanyl for her own use.
Hospitals sometimes prescribe Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that causes thousands of annual overdose fatalities in the United States, as a pain treatment, as reported by the Mayo Clinic.
A report shows that on January 3, Medford Police Lt. Geoff Kirkpatrick addressed the occurrences in a statement.
According to Kirkpatrick, the investigation into the allegations of a former hospital worker stealing medicine from patients and the subsequent “adverse” effects has been going on for over a month.
He didn’t say anything about the patients afflicted or killed, as well as whether or not the stolen material was fentanyl.
Local reporting showed he spoke with relatives of two patients who tragically passed away at the hospital due to occurrences of a similar kind during the last year.
He asked for the town to be patient as the police investigated. According to Kirkpatrick, “numerous calls” have been received by the police from people of the community inquiring about the impact of the prescription theft on themselves or their families.
