MEDFORD, Ore. — A former southern Oregon nurse who faces 44 second-degree assault charges after she allegedly diverted drugs and replaced them with non-sterile tap water, resulting in a number of patients developing serious infections, posted bail and was released from county jail Friday morning, according KOBI, the NBC news affiliate in Medford.
Bail for Dani Marie Schofield, previously an ICU nurse at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford, was set at $4 million, according to reporting from The Oregonian, meaning she had to post 10% or $400,000 to secure her release.
"According to Jackson County Court documents an incoming wire transfer was received on Tuesday. It can take as long as three business days to process a wire transfer and have a defendant be released," KOBI reported Friday.
Schofield was arrested on June 13 and pleaded not guilty the next day. At the arraignment, Schofield was told by the judge that she did not financially qualify for a court-appointed lawyer.
The 36-year-old woman faces 44 counts of second-degree assault but is not being charged for directly causing any deaths; each charge on the 44-count indictment corresponds to a different named individual, suggesting that investigators were able to conclude that they were each injected with tap water instead of prescription fentanyl.
In February, the family of a patient who died in 2022 sued the hospital, alleging that one of these injections introduced an infection that caused the patient's death. The hospital later determined that Schofield, an ICU nurse, had access to each of the victims. Then, in June, the Jackson County District Attorney's office convened a grand jury, which approved an indictment for Schofield under Oregon's Measure 11 statute.
Schofield's next court date is June 24 at 9 a.m.
