A former nurse pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to adulteration of fentanyl at a local hospital. Caroline Sheehan, 39, of Lowell, Mass. pleaded guilty to one count of adulteration of a prescription drug with intent to defraud and mislead. US District Court Judge Angel Kelley scheduled sentencing for June 12, 2024. Sheehan was charged by Information in November 2023. While working at a Massachusetts hospital, Sheehan removed a bag of intravenous fentanyl solution from an automated dispensing machine. Sheehan used a syringe to remove fentanyl from the IV bag, injected saline into the bag to replace the fentanyl she had removed and returned the bag to its drawer in the machine. A hospital employee removed the IV bag, which laboratory testing confirmed contained less than the declared concentration of fentanyl, from the machine before any of the adulterated fentanyl solution was administered to a patient. Sheehan later admitted that she had withdrawn fentanyl from the IV bag and replaced it with saline to avoid getting caught.
