Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center
Director of Community Outreach
Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center
Here is the latest update in Asante’s drug diversion case.
MEDFORD, Ore. — A new civil lawsuit filed in Jackson County Circuit Court names Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center as a defendant in a wrongful death case; it also names a nurse.
The filing by Idiart Law Group lists Asante and Dani Marie Schofield as defendants. The 33-point civil complaint represents Patti Wilson for the Estate of Horace Earl Wilson of Jacksonville.
The lawsuit involves a claim of drug diversion at Asante by a now-former nurse causing death by infection from tap water used to replace fentanyl for a patient.
The lawsuit seeks $11,475,000 for personal injuries and wrongful death of Horace Wilson from Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center (RRMC) in Medford, noting that during Wilson’s hospitalization there, “At all material times, Defendant DANI MARIE SCHOFIELD, RN was an employee, agent, and servant of Defendant ASANTE.”
The claim says Horace Wilson was a 65-year-old patient at RRMC when he went there Jan. 27, 2022, for care for left-side abdominal pain and left shoulder pain after falling from a ladder, with a subsequent scan of his abdomen and pelvis showing broken left ribs and a spleen laceration with active bleeding.
The complaint says though he appeared to have some recovery from his initial treatment, then his condition worsened, and Wilson died Feb. 25, 2022 while at Asante RRMC.
The lawsuit says, “From January 29, 2022 to February 2, 2022, Horace Wilson appeared to be improving and was extubated. During this time, ASANTE employees and agents continued to administer multiple potent medications through a central venous catheter (known as vasopressors) to maintain a minimally safe blood pressure.”
The filing says a third procedure February 3, 2022, required him to be intubated and stay in an intensive care unit where, “Horace Wilson demonstrated multiple clear markers of suffering from an infection.”
The complaint says Asante testing showed two days later Wilson’s blood tested positive for bacteria.
It says, “During Horace Wilson’s time in the intensive care unit, Asante ordered Defendant Dani Marie Schofield, RN to administer the drug fentanyl through infusion via the patient’s central (intravenous) line. Defendant Schofield was ordered to attach ‘hang bags’ of 1250 micrograms of fentanyl in 250 mL of 0.9% NaCL solution to a programmable pump which dripped the medication to Horace Wilson at the prescribed rate.”
The filing says Schofield recorded that she administered fentanyl to Horace Wilson several dates beginning Jan. 29, 2022, alleging that, “In order to divert the fentanyl, Defendant Schofield replaced this entire quarter of a liter of ‘missing fluid’ with non-sterile tap water, thus reintroducing new inoculums of the bacterium Staphylococcus epidermidis into Horace Wilson’s bloodstream via his central line each time she administered the solution.”
The lawsuit claims bacterial infection from, “Staphylococcus epidermidis rapidly colonized several foreign material surfaces within Horace Wilson’s bloodstream (medical devices and catheters) and thereafter became essentially impossible to eradicate.”
The lawsuit says, “Horace Wilson progressed to multi-system organ failure. He developed worsening sepsis-induced brain dysfunction which in turn led to worsening encephalopathy, severe confusion, and ongoing ventilator dependence. He required exchange of his endotracheal tube for a tracheostomy (surgical procedure that involves creating an opening into the neck and into the trachea). Eventually, Horace Wilson was weaned from sedation and recovered enough mental function to communicate to the ICU staff that he no longer wished to live this way.”
The filing says, “In 2021, Defendant Asante RRMC reported three central line-associated bloodstream infections, which spiked to 15 cases in 2022. On April 14, 2023, Defendant ASANTE acknowledged that central line-associated bloodstream infections had been linked to bacteria but reported no water contamination at their facilities.”
Last November, Schofield agreed to refrain from practice or to suspend license pending completion of an investigation with the Oregon State Board of Nursing.
Medford Police Department (MPD) says Asante officials contacted MPD about a former employee they thought was involved in diversion of fentanyl prescribed to patients possibly causing illnesses.
MPD says Asante also started contacting possible affected patients and their relatives in December.
The lawsuit says, “As a care provider, Defendant ASANTE had a duty to use the degree of care, skill, and diligence used by like facilities in the same or similar circumstances to prevent central line infections. Defendant ASANTE knew or should have known of the high likelihood of opioid diversion by one of its employees for their own use given the prevalence of such acts throughout the United States, especially after Asante discovered diversion of controlled substances by one of its nurses from about August 2016 through July 2017.”
It claims, “Asante failed to use such care, skill and diligence and was thereby negligent in one or more of the following ways: a) In failing to prevent the introduction of bacteremia in Plaintiff’s central line infusion; b) In failing to inspect the fentanyl solution that was being administered via central line infusion to Plaintiff; c) In failing to establish and follow protocols to ensure the security of fentanyl and preventing the foreseeable diversion of fentanyl by employees; d) In failing to properly supervise Defendant SCHOFIELD in her administration of fentanyl to Plaintiff.”
It also alleges, “Defendant SCHOFIELD failed to use such care, skill, and diligence and was thereby negligent in one or more of the following ways: a) In failing to administer fentanyl as prescribed; and b) In replacing fentanyl with tap water and thus introducing bacteremia into Plaintiff’s bloodstream. First Claim for Relief (Survival Claim).”
State agencies have reported they have been involved in water contamination investigations at Asante, and RRMC self-reported with articles posted online last March and April about water contamination and possibly related patient infections.
Jerry Howard is the director of community outreach at NewsWatch 12. You can reach Jerry at jerryhoward@kdrv.com.
Director of Community Outreach
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.
We recommend switching to one of the following browsers:
