Dawn Drum, 54, Janesville, Wisconsin, was charged with product tampering while employed as a Registered Nurse at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Janesville in November 2021. According to the information and plea agreement filed today, Drum tampered with vials of fentanyl by withdrawing the drug from the vials and replacing it with saline and then resealing the vial stopper with what appeared to be superglue. Drum then put the tampered vials back into a Pyxis machine, an automated medication dispensing system, so that the tampered fentanyl vials would be available for use with other patients at the hospital. An audit of the Pyxis transactions in Drum’s name revealed that she had an excessive pattern of fentanyl overrides and wastes when compared to other employees in 2021. In November 2021, hospital management confronted Drum with this discrepancy and asked her to take a drug test. Drum refused and instead resigned from her position at the hospital.
