Felony Charges Dropped Against Nurse In Morphine Theft
MOUNT CLEMENS (WWJ/AP) - Felony charges related to what authorities said was the theft of morphine from a Macomb County medical facility have been dropped against a 53-year-old woman who worked there as a nurse.
A judge determined Wednesday that evidence by prosecutors was too weak to send Karen Spearman to trial, according to the Macomb Daily.
Spearman was charged last month with larceny, adulterating drugs or medicine and driving on a suspended license after the sheriff's office said water was added to vials of morphine at the Martha T. Berry Medical Care Facility in Mount Clemens, northeast of Detroit.
A routine inventory check allegedly revealed that Spearman had taken morphine from vials her medical cart, stored it in a container and hid in a garbage bag. She then allegedly added water to the morphine vials to conceal the theft — diluting the potency of her patients' medication, according to investigators.
When she was confronted with the accusations, Spearman consented to a drug test but she fled before she could take it — striking a coworker with her car in her haste to get away. Police were called to the scene and Spearman was arrested.
Before the felony charges were dropped Wednesday, prosecutors told the judge that the contents of the vials had not yet been tested.
Spearman still faces a misdemeanor charge of driving on a suspended license.
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