IL Nurse Tampered With Patient's Liquid Morphine Medication: Feds

BYRON, IL — An Illinois nurse from Ogle County faces criminal charges after federal prosecutors allege that she removed liquid morphine prescribed to a patient and diluted it with another liquid, knowing the diluted substance would be dispensed to the patient, according to court documents unsealed on Thursday.

Nikole Butler, 40, Byron, was employed as a registered nurse at a skilled nursing facility. The indictment alleges that Butler tampered with the liquid morphine on May 16, 2021, with reckless disregard and extreme indifference to the risk that the patient would be placed in danger of bodily injury.

Butler, 40, faces one count of tampering with a consumer product, according to the unsealed indictment She pleaded not guilty to the charge on Thursday during her arraignment in federal court in Chicago, the U.S. Attorney for Northern Illinois said in a news release.

“Patients deserve to have confidence that they are receiving the legitimately prescribed medication and not a diluted substance,” Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual said in the release. “Health care practitioners who illicitly tamper with prescription drugs will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

If convicted, Butler faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. She is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

“U.S. consumers rely on the FDA to oversee the prescription drug supply chain and ensure that their medicines are safe and effective,” FDA Special Agent in Charge Ronne Malham said in the release. “When that supply chain is breached, the public’s health is put at risk. We will continue to pursue and bring to justice those who jeopardize consumers’ trust in their medications.”