Former University Of Minnesota Vet Tech Accused Of Morphine Theft
BY MN CRIME STAFF
A Circle Pines veterinary technician is charged after investigators say she diverted morphine from a University of Minnesota veterinary hospital.
Prosecutors allege the conduct occurred over a two-week span in July 2024, when she replaced the drug with saline and returned the diluted vials to circulation.
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Sarah Louise Myers, 28, is charged with felony theft of a controlled substance, felony theft by swindle and felony fifth-degree controlled substance crime for procuring the drug by deceit. Prosecutors allege the conduct occurred between July 6 and July 21, 2024, while Myers was working at the University of Minnesota Equine Center veterinary teaching hospital in Falcon Heights.
According to the criminal complaint, University of Minnesota police were notified on July 31, 2024, after hospital staff reported a suspected drug diversion involving morphine vials stored in a Pyxis automated medication system. Staff said morphine vials appeared unopened but were empty or showed signs of tampering, including glue-like residue on security caps.
The Pyxis system tracks access through fingerprints and user identification and generates a receipt for each transaction. Investigators say a review of Pyxis records showed Myers accessed the morphine drawer 35 times during the two-week period. No other clinical staff accessed morphine during that time, aside from pharmacy inventory checks.
Hospital records showed Myers was not assigned to any patients prescribed morphine during the period. Investigators say 34 of the 35 accesses were coded by Myers under a generic “Surgery” designation rather than a specific patient, a practice hospital staff described as extremely uncommon. Those same 34 transactions were later marked “Cancelled,” another action staff said is rarely used. Receipts for those transactions were printed but never forwarded for billing.
The remaining transaction was linked to an equine patient named Reggie. Investigators say Reggie was never prescribed morphine and did not receive it, yet the patient’s bill included one vial of the drug. The treating veterinarian told police that if morphine had been needed, five to six vials would have been required.
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When the investigation began, 29 morphine vials remained in the Pyxis system. All were seized and later examined by the Food and Drug Administration’s Forensic Chemistry Center. Testing found all 29 vials had puncture wounds on vial stoppers and adhesive residue consistent with tampering. Seven vials tested contained between 3.3 percent and 13 percent of the morphine concentration listed on the label. A separate vial recovered from a hospital waste bin showed similar tampering and tested at 9.2 percent of the labeled concentration, according to the complaint.
Investigators also reviewed timecards and door access records. Those records showed Myers was working at the hospital when 33 of the 35 morphine accesses occurred. The remaining two accesses happened on a day Myers was not scheduled to work and did not badge into the building. Pyxis records, however, showed her fingerprint was used. An animal care specialist told investigators Myers was seen at the hospital that day, and text messages showed Myers told a coworker she planned to stop by to retrieve something and write a prescription.
During an internal interview with hospital administrators on Aug. 5, 2024, Myers denied conducting the transactions and suggested someone else may have used her credentials. Investigators say Pyxis data confirmed fingerprint authentication was used for each access. Myers was placed on administrative leave and later terminated. She declined a formal interview with law enforcement.
The complaint states that because diluted morphine vials were returned to inventory, equine patients may have received ineffective pain medication during the period. Investigators say the dilution level would have significantly reduced morphine’s ability to control pain.
If convicted, Myers faces up to 10 years in prison on each theft count and up to five years on the controlled substance charge. She is charged by summons and is expected to make an initial court appearance on Jan. 30.
