Two Bedford nurses charged with ignoring suffering veterans under their care faced a judge in federal court Friday — with one sentenced to a year’s probation and the other pleading not guilty to diluting morphine.
“I’m just so sorry. My life hasn’t been the same since that night. I haven’t slept,” said former Bedford VA Medical Center nurse Patricia Waible before being given a year of probation.
Waible played video games while her patient was dying and lied to federal investigators about it, prosecutors said.
“I just can’t believe I did what I did,” said the 52-year-old Waible.
Court documents show Waible lied about conducting hourly “bed checks” on patients during an overnight shift on July 3, 2016. Her patient, Vietnam veteran Bill Nutter, 68 — referred to only as “Patient 1” in court documents — “suffered from several serious medical ailments” and was “found unresponsive and not breathing” at about 7 that morning.
Waible, of Nashua, N.H., pleaded guilty this summer to making false statements to investigators, court documents show.
Federal Court Judge Dennis Saylor cited Waible’s physical health, family responsibilities, age and clean prior record as reasons for the “light” sentence.
Waible’s attorney, Paul Garrity, said, “She is remorseful for what she did and feels bad for the family of the patient that was involved in this case.”
In a separate case, another Bedford VA nurse, who is accused of diluting morphine doses to veterans in hospice and may have increased one patient’s suffering the day before he died, was arraigned in federal court Friday and pleaded not guilty.
Kathleen Noftle, 55, of Tewksbury was charged by indictment with one count of tampering with a consumer product and one count of obtaining a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud and deception, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling.
Noftle, appearing in court Friday, pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Employees at the hospice unit at Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford discovered six red-colored caps containing a blue-colored liquid in three hospice patients’ medication “cassettes” after Noftle’s evening shifts on the weekend of Jan. 14-16, 2017, arousing suspicion and an eventual investigation by VA agents, the affidavit states.
Noftle initially denied wrongdoing, records show, and told a nurse manager on Jan. 31 she left morphine in her medication cart because of carelessness, not drug diversion.
On the same day, she admitted to VA agents she had addiction issues and was diverting drugs from the hospital two months prior, prosecutors allege.
A review of records showed Noftle scanned one hospice patient’s wristband to give the appearance of a proper dosage administered, the same patient who an employee discovered was in distress 30 minutes after Noftle’s shift.
The agent writes Noftle’s drug diversion may have caused increased breathing difficulties for the patient, and the hospital notified the patient’s family that his “end-of-life comfort may have been negatively impacted.”
Noftle is due back in court Dec. 20.
