Civil cases filed against Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center continue to build over allegations that a former hospital nurse caused injury and death to a number of patients by diverting prescription fentanyl and replacing it with non-sterile tap water.

The latest lawsuit, which specifically names former hospital nurse Dani Marie Schofield as a former employee but does not list her as a defendant, was filed Thursday, Nov. 14, in Jackson County Circuit Court by attorney Tom Petersen of Medford law firm Black, Chapman, Petersen, Stevens.

The suit seeks $22.4 million from Asante and lists Rebecca Rogers and the estates of Marty Bolin and Ronald Sizemore as plaintiffs. It alleges that Schofield was under the hospital’s employ when she caused “severe blood infections and painful conditions and/or death as alleged” by diverting powerful drugs.

The lawsuit claims that “due to the number of previous and current incidents involving drug diversion by hospital employees in and throughout the United States, including those at Asante in or about 2016-2017,” the hospital should have known of the high likelihood of drug diversion by its employees, including by Schofield.

The suit alleges Asante was negligent in nearly two dozen ways, including:

• Failing to perform routine pre-employment background checks for previous incidents involving opioid misuse, and failing to perform drug screens of its employees who had access to fentanyl in the course and scope of their employment, for the presence of opioids in their blood systems;
• Failing to adequately monitor ICU and pharmacy inventory and disposal of fentanyl so as to prevent diversion;
• Failing to take prophylactic action to prevent tap water from entering the bloodstreams of critically ill patients and from entering in Asante’s tap water;
• Allowing a culture that fostered inattention to medication security, inventory counts, and drug diversion prevention education and training even when Asante was aware as early as 2016 that staff had allegedly pilfered opioid medications prescribed for patients;
• Failing to timely collate and analyze the connection between evidence of drug diversion and increasing bacterial infections in the ICU during Schofield’’s employment by Asante, and negligently hiring Schofield who, through a diligent pre-hiring background search, would have been found to have abused drugs in her previous employment.

The newest lawsuit seeks $13,325,000 for the Bolin estate, $6,325,000 for Sizemore’s estate and $2,800,000 for Rogers. Sizemore and Rogers also are two of 44 Asante patients named as victims in a criminal case filed against Schofield by the Jackson County District Attorney’s office.

The criminal case covers a span of time from July 2022 to July 2023, though some cases that have been publicized imply injury or death to Asante patients, due to alleged drug diversion by a hospital nurse could go back even further.

Hospital officials have repeatedly declined to provide comment to the Rogue Valley Times regarding the civil suits or the criminal case.

Interviews by the Times with victims and family members of the victims establish a timeline of infections occurring between November 2022 and July 2023, though at least two law firms in the Rogue Valley claim to have reviewed infection complaints that occurred earlier.

Medford police arrested Schofield June 13, nearly a year after she left her job at the hospital in July 2023 and following an investigation that began in December 2023 when Asante administration reported possible drug diversion.

Schofield pleaded not guilty to the 44 criminal counts of second-degree assault and spent a week in the Jackson County Jail before posting 10% — or $400,000 — of her $4 million bail.

The first of several civil cases related to drug diversion allegations was filed in late February by Central Point attorney Justin Idiart. The case was the first to name Schofield as a co-defendant along with Asante.

That case, which seeks $11.5 million in damages, alleges that Schofield caused 65-year-old Horace “Buddy” Wilson’s death by replacing the fentanyl in his IV with tap water.

In September, the largest case filed to date was a medical malpractice and wrongful death lawsuit filed against Asante on behalf of 18 former patients — nine who are now deceased and nine who are not. The suit filed by Shlesinger and deVilleneuve of Medford only alleges that a former hospital RN replaced prescription fentanyl with non-sterile tap water.

Filed Sept. 3, that case originally sought $303.3 million in damages but has been amended for a revised damage amount of $337.8 million.

Asante’s latest filing in that case, however, seeks to have Schofield named as a defendant and denies that Schofield was “acting in the course and scope of her employment” when she allegedly committed the acts.

“To the extent that RRMC is determined to have any liability to plaintiffs, it is Ms. Schofield that would be the responsible party,” the filing states.

“Ms. Schofield is therefore a necessary party to this action pursuant to subsection (C)(1) of Oregon Rule of Civil Procedure 22, which provides that Ms. Schofield must directly assert defenses on her own behalf to plaintiffs’ claims.”

An additional case filed in Circuit Court Sept. 6 seeks $11.6 million in damages on behalf of former Asante patient Candi Kay Palomares, who also is named in the criminal suit against Schofield.

That case names both Asante and Schofield as defendants and alleges that Schofield diverted Palomares’ fentanyl and introduced tap water into her system. Palomares now suffers ongoing health problems, including difficulty breathing and walking and requires “daily assistance with normal living requirements.”

Palomares can no longer work and lost her job as a mobile home park manager, the suit claims. She also lost her home, which was provided as part of her compensation for managing the park, according to the suit.

While four cases are on file with the courts, at least one — the case filed by Idiart — is on hold awaiting the outcome of Schofield’s criminal case, set to begin Dec. 30. Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Benjamin Bloom issued a stay in the case in September.

Prior to the ruling in September, Schofield’s attorneys filed a pair of motions in July with affidavits claiming Schofield “believes she cannot have a fair and impartial hearing or trial in this matter” before Judge Kelly Ravassipour or Judge Laura Cromwell.

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Asante Rogue Regional faces $303-million lawsuit after nurse allegedly diverted drugs

Former Asante nurse accused of assault granted change of judge, delay of pre-trial

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Former Asante nurse accused of drug diversion posts $400K bond, leaves jail