Tewksbury Woman Indicted On Charge Of Stealing Morphine From Vets

TEWKSBURY, MA — Kathleen Noftle, 55, of Tewksbury was indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday on charges of diverting morphine while working as a nurse in the hospice unit of the Bedford Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Noftle was charged with one count of tampering with a consumer product and one count of obtaining a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, deception and subterfuge. She was initially arrested and charged in September.

Prosecutors said that from Jan. 13 to 15, 2017, Noftle ingested morphine meant for veterans under her care. According to prosecutors, she admitted to mixing portion of liquid morphine with water from the sink. They claim she then consumed the remaining drug, also diluted.

"The investigation revealed that, due to diluted morphine administered by Noftle, one veteran may have experienced increased difficulty breathing (dyspnea) and increased suffering in his final days," prosecutors continued. "The investigation also found that before working at the VA Medical Center in Bedford, Noftle had resigned from her position as a nurse at a different hospital following her failure to follow appropriate procedures when wasting narcotics on 60 occasions."

According to the criminal complaint, Noftle previously worked as a nurse at Tewksbury Hospital for about 25 years.

"Noftle had agreed to resign from Tewksbury Hospital in lieu of a disciplinary proceeding that could have resulted in her termination," the complaint reads. "These records showed that Noftle had been charged with failure to follow appropriate procedures when wasting narcotics on 60 occasions, placing patient safety in jeopardy."

The maximum sentence for tampering with a consumer product is 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. The other charge has a smaller four years in prison, one year of supervised release, and $250,000 fine maximum sentence.

The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

“These allegations run completely counter to VA’s values, that’s why we terminated this individual and reported her behavior to VA’s independent inspector general,” said Joan Clifford, the director of Bedford VA Medical Center, in a statement after Noftle was first arrested.