Kandis Mills, 47, who worked as a registered nurse at an Illinois nursing home, was sentenced to serve six years in federal prison for tampering with morphine intended for hospice patients and using it herself. She is to remain on supervised release for three years following her release from prison.
According to court documents, on July 20, 2018, a standard internal audit at the facility found an emergency medication control box did not contain the bottle of morphine. In addition, nine tablets of opioid medication were missing. A different nurse reported on July 23, 2018, that a patient’s morphine bottle appeared to have been tampered with — the dropper was not in the packaging, the bottle had been opened, and the color of the medication was lighter than normal. The bottle also appeared to contain more liquid than it should have. Two nurses at the center also reported to a supervisor that Mills seemed lethargic, was slurring her words, and staring into space. On Aug. 4, 2018, staff at the facility discovered another emergency medication control box had been tampered with. Specifically, the bottle of morphine, while intact, the flap on its box appeared to be bent and the safety seal had multiple puncture holes.
On Aug. 5, 2018, Mills’ employment with Illini Heritage was terminated. When interviewed by investigators, Mills admitted to consuming residents’ morphine, infrequently at first, but eventually daily. Mills admitted that she used the morphine and then diluted the morphine bottle with tap water from a sink.
