Deborah J. Riggs, nurse, admits stealing morphine from patients

News reports described 55-year-old Deborah J. Riggs as “a nurse with a history of drug abuse.” Her record more than backs it up. So does the guilty plea that she entered yesterday to charges that she diluted five patients’ morphine. 

The Goddard, Kansas, nurse admitted yesterday that while working at for Halstead Health and Rehabilitation that she removed between 32 and 62 percent of a morphine sulphate solution and replaced it with another substance in December 2009.