Boston Herald
By LISA KASHINSKY | lkashinsky@bostonherald.com and RICK SOBEY | rick.sobey@bostonherald.com |
Two Bay State congressmen are vowing to probe how a nurse at the Bedford VA Medical Center could reportedly water down doses of morphine for a dying veteran who may have suffered in his final hours because of the drug-tampering.
“Our veterans deserve the excellent care that they have earned by their service — and this incident, even if it’s rare, is unacceptable,” U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch said. “So we’ve got to review our protocols and make sure that we’re not missing something, that we’re not leaving a veteran unnecessarily vulnerable.”
Lynch, a South Boston Democrat, said he will investigate the allegations and how the nurse was hired.
U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, an Iraq War combat veteran who told the Herald he goes to the Bedford VA for care, said he will address the drug-tampering next week with U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie.
“I trust my primary care physician, but don’t think the next time I walk into the Bedford VA I’m not going to be a little nervous about whether I’m going to get the care that I should get,” said Moulton, who chose to keep his VA coverage when he became a congressman.
“We have repeatedly held the Bedford VA and other VAs around the country accountable for issues like this, and we’re going to continue to do so until the problem is fixed,” he added.
The nurse, Kathleen Noftle, 55, of Tewksbury, is accused of diluting morphine doses in the Bedford VA hospice, according to a federal indictment.
The Herald went to her Tewksbury home Thursday, but no one answered the front door. She is released without bail and has pleaded not guilty.
A review of records showed Noftle scanned one hospice patient’s wristband to give the appearance of a proper dosage administered — the same patient who an employee discovered was in distress 30 minutes after Noftle’s shift, prosecutors say. The affidavit states the employee noted the patient had a “furrowed brow,” an elevated respiratory rate and “shallow” breathing, and administered an additional 15 mg of morphine before he died the next day.
“Your heart just breaks for the families affected,” said veterans activist John MacDonald of Veterans Assisting Veterans. “It’s tragic and completely unacceptable.”
Rick Weidman of Vietnam Veterans of America called the alleged actions “unforgivable.”
“A person dying in terrible pain so you can feed your habit is just unforgivable,” he said. “Just unspeakable to me.”
A further investigation of records from the Department of Public Health revealed Noftle previously resigned from her job at the state-run Tewksbury Hospital after being charged with failure to follow appropriate procedures when wasting narcotics on 60 occasions, “placing patient safety in jeopardy.”
Lynch said Noftle’s history was a “red flag.”
“There was certainly cause to treat her conduct with greater scrutiny,” Lynch said. “I’m not sure that that happened. That’s what I’ll try to discover in our investigation.”
A Bedford VA spokeswoman said in a statement, “Had Bedford VA Medical Center known about these issues, this individual never would have been hired. Prior to her hiring, Bedford VA did a thorough check with this individual’s former employer, which did not report any concerns whatsoever.”
The Bedford VA spokeswoman did not explain the steps that will be taken to prevent this in the future.
“This is unacceptable,” said Methuen state Rep. Linda Dean Campbell, calling for an investigation.
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