Pharmacist Pleads Guilty to Misappropriating Pain Medication

A Minneapolis woman has pleaded guilty to misappropriating and adulterating prescription morphine while working as a pharmacist, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

According to court documents, on October 30, 2019, Jennifer Lee Draheim, 42, a pharmacist at Coburn’s Pharmacy in Ramsey, removed a bottle of morphine sulfate from the Scheduled Drug Cabinet and poured a quantity of the morphine from the stock bottle into a small container for her own personal use. She added water to the bottle to replace the morphine she took, thereby reducing the drug’s quality and strength. Draheim returned the diluted bottle of morphine to the Scheduled Drug Cabinet, where it was held in the pharmacy’s inventory for the purpose of filling customer prescriptions.

“The FDA oversees the U.S. drug supply to ensure that it is safe and effective, and those who knowingly adulterate medicines put patients’ health at risk,” said Special Agent in Charge Lynda M. Burdelik, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Chicago Field Office. “We will continue to protect the public health and bring to justice health care professionals who take advantage of their unique position and compromise their patients’ health and comfort.”

“The diversion of pharmaceuticals is a dangerous path that can lead to addiction, overdose and even death,” DEA Omaha Division Special Agent in Charge Justin C. King said. “We take diversion seriously as it impacts the person misusing the medication and also those for whom the prescription was intended. In this case, Jennifer Draheim’s actions put her life in danger and also affected those who were in need of morphine sulfate but instead received a tainted, watered-down medication. We applaud Coborn’s Inc., for alerting authorities to the diversion and our partners in the FDA for their work on this investigation.”

Draheim pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel to one count of adulteration of a drug. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later time.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren O. Roso is prosecuting the case.

The Minnesota Board of Pharmacy took the following disciplinary actions involving a pharmacist at its July 2020 meeting:

On or around December 27, 2019, while working as a pharmacist at a pharmacy location, Licensee diverted four tablets of hydrocodone-acetaminophen 5-325mg for personal use from a prescription she was tasked with verifying. Pharmacy video footage captured Licensee opening the bottle and removing a number of the pills followed by Licensee placing them in her lab coat pocket.

Pharmacy video footage from September 2019 through February 2020 further captured over two dozen instances of Licensee diverting prescription medications from both stock dispensing and filled prescription bottles. Licensee was captured on video removing pills from containers, removing pills from containers and ingesting them, and ingesting oral solutions directly from stock prescription dispensing containers. Licensee also refilled bottles with unknown substances in order to disguise medication shortages caused by her diversion.

Licensee also was captured on video diverting products from the sales floor. On or around January 30, 2020, Licensee’s pharmacy employer terminated Licensee’s employment for these actions. Consequently, the Board issued a Stipulation and Consent Order for Voluntary Surrender.