Danvers Hospice Nurse Sentenced To 5 Years For Diluting Morphine

DANVERS, MA — A nurse who pleaded guilty to diluting a morphine solution prescribed to an 89-year-old hospice patient at Hunt Nursing Home and Rehab in Danvers was sentenced to five years in federal prison on Monday.

Brianna Duffy, 32, of Haverhill, pleaded guilty to one count of tampering with a consumer product and one count of acquiring a controlled substance by fraud or deception.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said last March the registered nurse diluted a morphine sulfate medication prescribed to the 89-year-old hospice patient — replacing it with another solution so that it was only at 26 percent strength and causing the patient additional pain. She pleaded guilty to the charge last July.

Three years earlier, while working at Maplewood Care and Rehabilitation Center in Amesbury, court documents said she also diverted morphine from two bottles that were prescribed to a 68-year-old patient down to 1.2 to 2.5 percent of the original concentration.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said she tested positive for morphine on July 18, 2017.

Duffy was also sentenced to three years of supervised release.