BOSTON – A Haverhill licensed practical nurse was charged on March 12, 2019, in federal court in Boston with drug tampering.

Lauren Perrin, 47, was charged by Information with one count of tampering with a consumer product, specifically the Schedule II controlled substance morphine, which is used for pain relief. 

While working as a licensed practical nurse at Maplewood Care and Rehabilitation Center in Amesbury, Perrin tampered with three bottles of morphine sulfate prescribed to a hospice patient. In an attempt to avoid detection, she replaced the extracted medication with another liquid.  Perrin’s tampering lowered the potency of the three bottles of morphine sulfate to only 4-29% of the intended potency.

The charging statute provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling; Jeffrey Ebersole, Special Agent in Charge of the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations; Phillip Coyne, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General; and Commissioner Monica Bharel, MD, MPH, of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elysa Wan of Lelling’s Health Care Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the information are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Topic(s): 

Prescription Drugs

Component(s): 

USAO - Massachusetts