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Women in labor received saline instead of pain meds, according to plea
An Iowa nurse who stole pain medication from about 50 women in labor at a Waterloo hospital pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court.
Christina Eileen Olson, formerly known as Christina Eileen Hovey, 43, of Waterloo — a former nurse — was convicted of one count each of acquiring a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, deception, and subterfuge; adulteration and misbranding with intent to defraud and mislead; and false statements relating to health care matters.
According to the plea agreement, Olson obtained her nursing license in 2004. She was hired in 2017 at an unidentified Waterloo hospital to work in its labor and delivery unit. As a nurse in that unit, she was responsible for caring for late-term pregnant women, women in active labor, and postpartum women, including women recovering from recent cesarean section surgeries.
Obstetricians prescribed these women narcotics, including hydromorphone, oxycodone, and fentanyl, to control physical pain associated with the birthing process.
From January to March 25, 2022, Olson, as a nurse, gained access to controlled substances in the unit, a plea stated. Instead of giving the controlled substances to the women in pain, Olson diverted the medications to herself for her illicit drug use.
Olson admitted she stole narcotics from no less than 50 victims. To conceal her crimes, she falsely documented that she had administered pain medication to new mothers, and also admitted to tampering with the medications — replacing fentanyl in vials with saline and using the narcotics herself.
On March 25, 2022, Olson was tasked with caring for three new mothers and their babies during her shift from 3 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to the plea. One of Olson’s victims, identified in court documents as “Mother-1,” had a c-section on March 23, in a high-risk pregnancy. Olson was supposed to go into the mother’s room and document how much the baby was eating every hour. However, Olson never went into the room or checked on the mother and baby or administered pain medication on March 25, but Olson documented that she gave the mother pain medication on that date. She had actually taken the pain medication for her own use.
As a result of Olson’s actions, Mother-1 suffered “horrible and excruciating pain” because Olson created false health care records documenting that she had administered the pain medication, so the next nurse on shift declined to give medication to the mother for at least 30 additional minutes, according to court documents. And despite repeated requests by the mother’s husband for formula for the newborn, the baby didn’t receive any until the end of Olson’s shift.
The next day, Olson was drug tested during her shift and tested positive for opiates and marijuana, according to the plea. Another nurse then found an open fentanyl vial, an open ephedrine vial and an epidural bag in another new mother’s room. Hospital records revealed Olson had removed these three items under the new mother’s name despite the fact there were no such orders for her.
The fentanyl vial had puncture marks on the top and bottom stopper surfaces, and laboratory results later showed that nearly all the fentanyl in the vial had been replaced with saline, according to the plea.
In July 2022, Olson entered into a settlement agreement with the Iowa Board of Nursing and voluntarily surrendered her nursing license for one year. As a part of her plea agreement, Olson has agreed to forfeit her nursing license.
Olson will be sentenced after a presentence report is prepared. She faces up to 12 years in prison.