Oregon Hospital is being sued for $303 million because a nurse is said to have switched out fentanyl for tap water.

On Tuesday, a $303 million case was brought against Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford, Oregon, because a former nurse is said to have changed prescribed fentanyl with dirty tap water, which caused serious infections in patients. The wrongful death and medical malpractice suit, which includes both live and dead patients, charges the hospital of negligence, such as failing to keep an eye on how medications are handled and stop staff from taking drugs without permission.

In June, 44 counts of second-degree assault were brought against Dani Marie Schofield, the former nurse who was at the center of the claims. The charges come after police looked into theft and abuse of controlled drugs at the hospital, which they say caused several patients to get illnesses. Schofield has pleaded not guilty and is not named in the lawsuit that was filed on Tuesday. However, he is the subject of a different case that was filed earlier this year over the death of a 65-year-old man.

The new case has 18 clients, including nine patients and the estates of nine people who have died. The lawsuit says that the hospital started telling people who were affected in December after realizing that an employee had switched out fentanyl for tap water, which caused bacterial diseases. The lawsuit says that all of the patients got infections from a bacteria that is usually spread through water, which caused them a lot of mental and physical pain.

In late 2023, hospital officials told Medford police that there had been an odd rise in central line infections from July 2022 to July 2023. This led the police to start a probe. The hospital thought that one of its workers was stealing fentanyl, a strong synthetic opioid that is commonly used in hospitals to treat pain but is also linked to the current opioid problem in the United States.

A representative for Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center refused to say anything about the case. The claimants are asking for millions of dollars in damages to cover the victims’ medical bills, missed wages, and the pain and suffering they went through. The case shows how worried people are about drug theft in hospital situations.