Pharmacist pleads guilty to misappropriating and adulterating medication

A Minneapolis woman accused of stealing pain medication from her employer while working as a pharmacist pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Tuesday.

Jennifer Lee Draheim, 42, a pharmacist at Coburn’s Pharmacy in Ramsey, pleaded guilty yesterday to misappropriating and adulteration of a drug.

According to court documents, on Oct. 30, 2019, Draheim removed a bottle of morphine sulfate from the Scheduled Drug Cabinet, the pharmacy’s stock inventory for filling customer prescriptions.

She poured a portion of the morphine from the stock bottle into a small container for “her own personal use”, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney’s Office. She then added water to the bottle to replace the morphine she took, reducing the morphine’s quality and strength, and replaced the bottle.

Special Agent in Charge Lynda M. Burdelik of the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations states, “The FDA oversees the U.S. drug supply to ensure that it is safe and effective, and those who knowingly adulterate medicines put patients’ health at risk.”

Draheim pleaded guilty on Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel to one count of adulteration of a drug. A sentencing hearing has not yet been set.