MADISON, Wis. (WFRV) – A former Wisconsin licensed registered nurse has agreed to plead guilty to product tampering while employed back in 2021.

According to the United States Attorney’s Office Western District of Wisconsin, 54-year-old Dawn Drum from Janesville will enter a guilty plea for tampering with a product while employed at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital.

According to a release, Drum tampered with vials of fentanyl by withdrawing the drug from the vials and replacing it with saline, and then resealing the vial stopper with what appeared to be super glue.

Drum then allegedly put the tampered vials back into a Pyxis machine, which is an automated medication dispensing system, so that the tampered fentanyl vials would be available for use with other patients at the hospital.

An audit of the Pyxis transactions in Drum’s name revealed that she had an excessive pattern of fentanyl overrides and wastes when compared to the other employees in 2021. In November 2021, hospital management confronted Drum with this discrepancy and asked her to take a drug test. Drum refused and resigned from her position.

According to the plea agreement, Drum is being recommended an 18-month prison sentence and a fine of $30,000 due. A date for Drum’s plea hearing has not been scheduled.

The statutory maximum that Drum is facing for the product tampering charge is 10 years in prison and $250,000.

The charges against Drum were the result of an investigation conducted by the Food and Drug Administration–Office of Criminal Investigations, and the Drug Enforcement Administration–Diversion Control Division.