Suburban Nurse Pleads Guilty To Diluting Patient's Morphine

MCHENRY COUNTY, IL — A suburban Chicago nurse has pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of tampering with a consumer product.

Sarah Diamond, 30, of Woodstock was employed as the assistant director of nursing at a Crystal Lake rehabilitation center where she was responsible for dispensing medications to patients. Diamond worked for the Crystal Pines Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in Crystal Lake starting in June 2021, according to the Lake/McHenry County Scanner.

In July 2021 and August 2021, Diamond removed morphine from bottles prescribed to patients and replaced it with another liquid, knowing the diluted substance would be dispensed to the patients, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

According to federal prosecutors, Diamond removed the morphine with reckless disregard and extreme indifference for the risk that the patients would be placed in danger of bodily injury.

She diluted a bottle of morphine intended for one of the patients until it contained only about 26 percent of the amount of morphine it should have, and diluted another to contain only about 53 percent of the declared amount of morphine. She then administered liquid morphine shots to the patients using the diluted bottles, according to a news release.

She kept the remaining morphine for her own personal use, federal prosecutors said. In total, Diamond removed liquid morphine intended for use by at least five patients at the rehabilitation center, each of whom had been prescribed liquid morphine to manage their pain.

A sentencing date has not yet been set, and Diamond faces up to a maximum of ten years in federal prison.