An Oregon nurse faces assault charges that she stole fentanyl and replaced IV drips with tap water

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — A former nurse at an Oregon hospital is facing criminal charges that she harmed nearly four dozen patients by stealing fentanyl and replacing it with non-sterile tap water in intravenous drips. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports Dani Marie Schofield pleaded not guilty on Friday to 44 counts of second-degree assault and was being held on $4 million bail. Schofield is a former nurse at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford. Many of the hospital’s patients developed serious infections, and 16 of them died, but authorities say they did not pursue murder, manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide charges. That is because investigators could not establish that the infections caused those deaths.