A registered nurse from Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for tampering with vials of fentanyl while working at Ascension St. John Hospital’s emergency room. Travis Eskridge, 54, admitted to removing fentanyl from vials intended for patient use and replacing it with another liquid before returning the altered vials to the hospital’s locked drug storage system. He also acknowledged stealing fentanyl for personal use over several months in 2022.
Eskridge’s actions were discovered by the hospital in August 2022, at which point he was immediately removed from his position. The case was investigated by special agents from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. commented on the case: “When nurse Eskridge placed tampered vials back into the hospital’s medical supply, he exposed patients in desperate need of pain relief to continued suffering. This is a reprehensible crime. No medical professional should torture a patient. I credit the hospital and the FDA investigators for their work in exposing this crime.”
Special Agent in Charge Ronne Malham of the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Chicago Field Office stated: “Emergency room patients trust they will be administered the pain relief drugs that the doctor ordered. We will continue to pursue and bring to justice healthcare professionals who violate their position of trust and jeopardize patients’ health and well-being by tampering with their pain medications.”
The sentence was handed down by United States District Judge Susan K. DeClercq.
