Moses Lake nurse pleads guilty to stealing and using morphine on the job | News

SPOKANE, WA – A former Moses Lake nurse pleaded guilty to manipulating morphine medication while working at Confluence Health to help her own opioid addiction.

United States Chief District Judge Stanley A. Bastian accepted 40-year-old Esther Rae Tuller’s admission of guilt and was scheduled to hold a verdict hearing on March 17, 2022 in Spokane.

According to court documents and information released during Tuller’s amendment hearing between August 2019 and April 2020, Tuller was a Washington registered nurse employed at the Confluence Health Clinic in Moses Lake. Her position as a nurse gave her access to drugs, including opioid narcotics such as morphine, an opioid derivative often prescribed by hospitals and health care facilities for pain relief.

While working at Confluence Health, Tuller used syringes to remove morphine from at least 17 vials and then took that morphine as part of her own opioid addiction. Then she replaced the morphine with a saline solution, which was essentially salt dissolved in water, and tried to put the caps back on the vials so that they appeared intact. Before Tuller was arrested by law enforcement, at least one Confluence Health patient on morphine had to be rushed to the emergency room; this patient continued to suffer excruciating pain after receiving nothing but saline solution from allegedly vials of morphine.

US Attorney Vanessa R. Waldref stressed that her mission to ensure a safe and strong community in East Washington includes fighting the opioid epidemic in all its forms. “While Ms. Tuller’s addiction to opioids is both tragic and far too common, her decision to use her access to medical morphine was an egregious breach of trust. It is deeply troubling that she made her wrongdoing worse by secretly replacing the morphine with saline in vials that she knew would be distributed to patients. It has ruthlessly and seriously endangered the safety of patients who rely on the judgment and integrity of health professionals every day. ”

The drug manipulation charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a fine of $ 250,000, and up to 3 years of judicial supervision after release.

US Attorney Waldref underlined the importance of exposing such crimes. “I commend the excellent investigative work of the Diversion Group of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Office of Criminal Investigations of the Food and Drug Administration. This case shows that the DEA, the FDA and the US Attorney’s Office will work tirelessly to protect and empower our communities at risk. ”

Frank A. Tarentino III, Special Agent responsible for DEA’s Seattle Field Division, highlighted the DEA’s ongoing work against opioid abuse. “MS. Tuller’s reckless actions violated her medical oath and undermined public confidence. During this national opioid crisis, people depend on health and law enforcement personnel to protect our communities from anyone trying to break the system of care and treatment.” To take advantage of those in need. “

“The FDA oversees the US drug supply to ensure it is safe and effective, and those who knowingly tamper with drugs are putting patients’ health at risk,” added Lisa L. Malinowski, Special Envoy, of the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Los Angeles added branch. “We will continue to protect public health and bring all health professionals to justice who take advantage of their unique position or harm the health and comfort of their patients by tampering with the drugs they need.”

This investigation was conducted by the DEA’s Diversion Group at the Seattle Field Office and the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations, Seattle Domicile. United States Associate Attorneys Dan Fruchter and Tyler HL Tornabene are pursuing this matter on behalf of the United States.

No. 2: 21-CR-00163-SAB (ED wash.)

https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/moses-lake-nurse-pleads-guilty-to-stealing-and-using-morphine-on-the-job/article_2e77788e-56d7-11ec-bf26-df80a0e90fb3.html