Pharmacist took morphine meant for suffering patients, replaced it with water, feds say

Federal authorities say a Minnesota pharmacist took morphine from the “stock bottle” meant to fulfill patient prescriptions and replaced the missing liquid with water.

In doing so, the 42-year-old woman weakened the drug’s quality and strength, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota. Morphine is a pain medication often prescribed for people suffering severe, physical pains.

Jennifer Lee Draheim, of Minneapolis, pleaded guilty to adulterating prescription morphine while working as a pharmacist at Coburn’s Pharmacy in Ramsey, court records show.

In her plea agreement signed July 19, Draheim admitted to taking a bottle of “Morphine Sulfate Oral Solution” from the drug store’s scheduled drug cabinet in the restricted pharmacy area on Oct. 30, 2019.

Officials say she poured some of the morphine into a small container “for her own personal use” before adding water to the stock bottle. She then returned the diluted bottle to the cabinet where it was held to fulfill customer prescriptions.

Draheim’s defense attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on July 21.

“We take diversion seriously as it impacts the person misusing the medication and also those for whom the prescription was intended,” said Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Justin C. King in a statement. “In this case, Jennifer Draheim’s actions put her life in danger and also affected those who were in need of morphine sulfate but instead received a tainted, watered-down medication. We applaud Coborn’s Inc., for alerting authorities to the diversion and our partners in the FDA for their work on this investigation.”

Draheim’s sentencing hearing has not been scheduled as of July 21. She could be sentenced to up to 3 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, among other penalties.

Ramsey is about 28 miles northwest of Minneapolis.

This story was originally published July 21, 2022 at 3:40 PM with the headline "Pharmacist took morphine meant for suffering patients, replaced it with water, feds say."