Indianapolis nurse pleads guilty to tampering with medication, injecting patients with saline

INDIANAPOLIS – A former nurse has been sentenced to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to taking medicine from emergency room patients and keeping it for herself, injecting them with saline instead.

According to court documents, Jennifer Adams, 38, of Whitestown, tampered with vials of injectable pain medications while employed as a registered nurse in the emergency room at Franciscan Health in Crawfordsville.

The medications Adams tampered with include fentanyl, morphine, hydromorphone and ketamine.

Police say by using an automated medication dispensing machine, Adams accessed the medications without authorization and used them herself.

To cover her tracks, she refilled the vials of medicine with saline solution and super glued the lids back on.

According to court documents, Adams used the saline solution on 30 to 40 unaware patients who were admitted to the hospital and were in need of pain relief.

An investigation found that Adams tampered with between two and seven vials of medicine during each shift that she worked.

“Emergency room patients depend on healthcare providers to give them the medicines they need. This defendant abused her position of trust to steal powerful prescription pain medications and give patients saline instead,” Zachary Myers, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, said.

Adams will be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for three years following her release from prison and pay a $1,000 fine.