A former traveling nurse was sentenced in federal court in Boston for tampering with morphine at a local rehabilitation facility. Loralie LaBroad, 55, was sentenced to three months in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release during which she is prohibited from practicing as a registered nurse or any other work with access to prescription medication or other controlled substances. LaBroad worked as a registered nurse for over 30 years, licensed in both New Hampshire and Massachusetts. In 2021, LaBroad voluntarily surrendered her New Hampshire nursing license following an investigation by the New Hampshire Board of Nursing after being fired from a rehabilitation center in Derry, NH as a result of allegations that she had tampered with morphine bottles.
After surrendering her New Hampshire license, LaBroad continued to practice under her Massachusetts license. From December 2021 through at least May 12, 2022, LaBroad was employed as a traveling nurse through a healthcare staffing company and was assigned to various nursing and rehabilitation facilities throughout Massachusetts. Several of these Massachusetts facilities also began to suspect that LaBroad was diverting morphine from patients because of her consistent access to the bottles of morphine and evidence of tampering (i.e. bottles that were leaking or appearing to be the wrong color). Several of these bottles were tested and came back at significantly diluted concentrations.
