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  The theft of prescription medication from Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center, Medford in Oregon is being investigated by the police.
  
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  Two patients died and other people became ill when a nurse replaced fentanyl intravenous drips with tapwater.
  
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  It is not yet known the extent of the impact that the theft and tampering had on the patients. Also, it is unclear if any deaths were caused by the medication theft.
  

Police and medical officials confirmed on Wednesday that authorities are investigating the theft by a nurse of intravenous drips containing fentanyl, which were replaced with tap water. The incident was reported in a local newspaper, and two people died.

In a statement, Lt. Geoff Kirkpatrick of the Medford Police Department said that officials at Asante-Rogue Regional Medical Centre in Medford reported in early December to police they believed an ex-employee had stolen medication.

The statement stated that “there was concern this behavior would result in adverse patient care. However, the extent of impact on these patients has yet to be determined.”

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Kirkpatrick refused to confirm in a telephone interview whether the theft of medication or its tampering resulted in deaths. He said, “We are investigating whether this behavior has led to adverse patient treatment, which could include death or other things.” We don’t believe that this led to deaths.

In a police statement, the department said it received many calls from people asking if their family members or themselves might be affected. Asante informed police that it had identified and notified any patients or their family members.

The hospital and police refused to provide any further information. There was no indication that an arrest had taken place.

Asante stated in a press release that “we were deeply distressed” to hear about this problem. “We have reported this to the law enforcement agencies and are working with them closely.”

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Oregon Health Authority stated in a Wednesday statement that they were aware of reports about an Asante nurse who “was alleged to have tampered fentanyl pharmaceutical used to treat severe chronic pain and introduced water into patients’ intravenous line.” The Oregon Health Authority confirmed that it was also investigating reports that “the incidents led to health-care-associated infections which severely injured and may have even caused death of several patients.”

The Rogue Valley Times reported that hospital officials informed the families of two patients, 36-year old Samuel Allison who died in November 2020, and 74 year-old Barry Samsten who died in July, that their deaths were caused by infections that resulted from the replacement of their pain medication with non-sterile water.

The Associated Press did not respond immediately to requests for interviews with the relatives of Allison and Samsten.