Medford nurse Dani Marie Schofield on Friday pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging her with 44 counts of second-degree assault on suspicion of harming nearly four dozen patients in Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center’s intensive care unit by stealing fentanyl prescribed to them to ease their pain.
Jackson County Circuit Judge Laura Cromwell told Schofield that she didn’t qualify financially for a court-appointed lawyer and no defense lawyer was present as the judge kept Schofield’s bail at $4 million despite a pretrial officer’s recommendation to lower it to $1 million.
Schofield complained to the court that she’s been locked down in isolation in jail, hasn’t received her medication, has had no contact with anyone and barely has running water.
She said she believes her family has contacted a lawyer to represent her and asked the judge how they should inform the court.
The judge instructed Schofield to file a grievance with the jail about the conditions and that a retained lawyer should contact the court. A pretrial conference was scheduled for June 24.
Police and prosecutors say Schofield took patients’ fentanyl for her own personal use and replaced the liquid drug with non-sterile tap water, causing them to develop life-threatening infections.
Of the 44 patients identified, 16 died -- most in the hospital but others after they were discharged, Medford Police Chief Justin Ivens said during a news conference Thursday afternoon.
The allegations range from July 25, 2022, through July 25, 2023, when Schofield stopped working at the hospital. Each count of second-degree assault alleges that Schofield “knowingly” caused “serious physical injury.”
“These charges represent the highest level of charge the evidence in this case can support,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Patrick P. Green said during the news conference. Investigators could not tie the patient deaths directly to Schofield’s alleged actions, Green said.
Green on Friday urged that Schofield’s bail be set no lower than $2 million considering the seriousness of the allegations. Each charge brings a mandatory minimum of five years and 10 months in prison with a potential maximum sentence of 10 years, he said.
“That exposure alone makes her a considerable flight risk,” Green said.
The 44 victims in the case also were vulnerable people who were getting care in the hospital’s intensive care unit, he said.
If Schofield is able to post 10% of the bail and be released, the judge ordered her to have no contact with any of the victims, no contact with her former employer unless she requires emergency care, to possess no drugs or alcohol and to provide no caregiving to people who are disabled or 65 years or older.
Cromwell noted Schofield has a child and so the judge limited the no-caregiving condition to an older, vulnerable population.
The indictment resulted from a seven-month investigation into alleged drug diversion at the hospital, according to the Medford police chief. Two detectives and a supervisor were assigned to the criminal investigation after the hospital conducted an internal investigation.
In December, the hospital alerted police about a rising number of central line infections among patients in their care. The hospital had noticed a puzzling increase in central line infections. They are caused when germs are introduced through a central line or tube that is placed near a large vein, such as in the chest, neck or groin. Central lines make administering medications simpler. Schofield is suspected of delivering the non-sterile tap water, in lieu of fentanyl, through a central line.
The hospital’s internal investigation isolated the infections to patients in the intensive care unit who had contact with Schofield from July 2022 to July 2023, when Schofield left the hospital, police said.
Ivens, the police chief, said detectives had contact with Schofield early in the investigation.
“At some point in her job, she lost purpose in what she was doing and it led to this, which is truly tragic,” he said.
The case was turned over to the district attorney’s office in April. On Wednesday, 21 witnesses testified before a grand jury over eight hours and an indictment was signed. A warrant was then issued for Schofield’s arrest, according to court records.
Schofield, 36, was lodged by Medford police in the Jackson County Jail after she was arrested about 12:30 p.m. Thursday in the 5000 block of Rogue River Drive outside Eagle Point.
Jackson County Circuit Court clerk Emily Kaplan denied Schofield a court-appointed attorney, citing her equity in a 2019 Acura MDX, $348,780 equity in residential property in Medford and $20,000 in a bank account, according to court records.
A person is eligible for a court-appointed attorney at state expense if the person is “unable to retain adequate counsel without substantial hardship in providing basic economic necessities to the person or the person’s dependent family,” according to the state. A clerk reviews an application to determine a person’s financial eligibility.
Schofield voluntarily agreed to refrain from practicing as a nurse and to suspend her nursing license pending the outcome of the criminal case, Clark R. Horner, Schofield’s civil attorney, said this month in response to a pending civil suit against Schofield and the hospital.
The suit was filed in Jackson County by the estate of Horace Wilson, who died at the Asante Rogue Medical Center. He had sought care at the hospital on Jan. 27, 2022, after falling 10 feet from a ladder. He complained of abdominal and shoulder pain; a subsequent test revealed broken ribs and internal bleeding from his spleen, according to the suit.
Wilson suffered organ failure after developing a serious infection, “treatment-resistant sepsis,” on Feb. 12, according to the suit. He isn’t listed among the 44 alleged victims in the indictment.
In response to the suit, Schofield denied she was negligent or caused injury to Wilson.
In Jackson County, 28 people are in jail on criminal charges without a lawyer appointed, including 17 who face felony charges. There are another 668 people who are out of custody on criminal charges who have not been appointed a lawyer in the county, according to a state dashboard.
-- Maxine Bernstein covers federal court and criminal justice. Reach her at 503-221-8212, [email protected], follow her on X @maxoregonian, or on LinkedIn.
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