Nurse accused of swapping meds with household cleaner, court records show

AMESBURY, Mass. —

A nurse faces federal charges for allegedly replacing pain medication prescribed for a hospice patient with cleaning fluid.

Lori Robertson, of Salem, New Hampshire, is a registered nurse who was employed at a long-term care and rehabilitation facility in Amesbury, Massachusetts, according to an indictment obtained from federal court records. Patients at the facility required long-term chronic care or post-acute care.

According to the indictment, Robertson had access to oxycodone prescribed to the patients.

In particular, the indictment said Robertson had access to one hospice patient's oxycodone vial on March 31. She is accused of removing that oxycodone from the bottle with a syringe and replacing the liquid with an unspecified household cleaner.

The patient is desc