Nurse swaps pain medicine meant for surgery patients with saline in Connecticut, feds say

Julia Marnin, The Charlotte Observer on Apr 8, 2025

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A woman who worked as a nurse for a Connecticut surgical center pleaded guilty to stealing pain medication from the clinic and swapping the drugs with saline or water, federal prosecutors said.

Kristen Carotenuto stole vials of hydromorphone and fentanyl from the Stamford outpatient surgical center in December, then brought the vials home, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.

She’s accused of using the drugs meant for patients.

Her defense attorney, Audrey A. Felsen, didn’t immediately return McClatchy News’ request for comment on April 8.

According to prosecutors, Carotenuto returned the stolen medication vials to the surgical center after she refilled them with saline or water.

These vials could’ve been “distributed for patient use,” according to prosecutors.

Carotenuto removed the hydromorphone and fentanyl, both opioid medications, from a secure storage area inside her workplace, prosecutors said. The name of the surgery clinic wasn’t identified by prosecutors.

On April 7, Carotenuto, 35, of Pelham, New York, waived indictment and pleaded guilty to tampering with a consumer product, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

“Carotenuto … with reckless disregard for the risk that another person would be placed in danger of death and bodily injury … tampered with consumer products that affected interstate commerce and with the labeling of and containers for such products,” prosecutors wrote in a criminal information filed April 7.

“She knew” the medications “were intended to be dispensed to patients for purposes of pain relief,” the filing says.

Carotenuto, who “surrendered her nursing license,” is scheduled to be sentenced on June 30, prosecutors said.

The charge of tampering with a consumer product could result in a prison sentence of up to 10 years, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Carotenuto was released on a $25,000 bond ahead of her sentencing hearing, according to prosecutors.

Stamford is about a 75-mile drive southwest from Hartford.

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