An Iowa nurse who stole pain medication from at least 50 new mothers at a Waterloo hospital was sentenced on March 27, 2024, to one year and one day of imprisonment in federal court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. Christina Eileen Olson, formerly known as Christina Eileen Hovey, age 43, of Waterloo, received the prison term after pleading guilty on October 12, 2023, to one count of acquiring a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, deception, and subterfuge, one count of adulteration and misbranding with intent to defraud and mislead, and one count of false statements relating to healthcare matters.
From no later than January 2022, to at least March 25, 2022, Olson used her nursing license to gain access to controlled substances in the hospital’s labor and delivery unit. Instead of administering the controlled substances to the women in pain, Olson diverted the controlled substances to herself for her own illicit drug use. Olson admitted she stole narcotics from no less than 50 victims. In order to cover up her crimes, Olson used a variety of fraudulent means, including falsely documenting that she had administered pain medication to new mothers when she had not done so. Olson also admitted to tampering with pain medication—replacing fentanyl inside a vial with saline and diverting the narcotic for her own use.
