CONCORD, New Hampshire — A Warren woman is happy after a New Hampshire jury’s decision to acquit her on four charges while deadlocking on seven others that had accused her of diverting drugs intended for patients.
The jury issued its verdicts in the case against 47-year-old Kerry Bridges Monday in Merrimack County Superior Court.
The initial complaints filed last year by the New Hampshire attorney general’s Medicaid fraud control unit alleged that Bridges diverted drugs, including morphine, Fentanyl and Vicodin, from Concord Hospital. The state also claimed she administered narcotics without doctors’ orders and could not account for all drugs in early 2015.
Bridges’ attorney, James Moir, said Monday that his client was happy with the outcome of the case. The state had charged Bridges with multiple counts of possession of a controlled drug without a valid order.
The issue came down to whether there were valid orders for the drugs, Moir said, adding that in many instances the orders were given verbally.
The attorney general’s office has not announced yet whether it would try Bridges on the seven counts that deadlocked the jury, Moir said.
Assistant Attorney General Danielle Horgan said Monday afternoon she had no comment.
Moir said Bridges holds a valid license to practice in Maine, Massachusetts and California. With these charges pending, however, she has not been able to get hired.
He said he would like to see prosecutors with the New Hampshire attorney general’s office issue a news release stating they were wrong to pursue charges against Bridges.
The Maine Board of Nursing reprimanded Bridges in July 2014 after an investigation into possible diversion of drugs while she worked at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.
Bridges, who had resigned as a registered nurse from EMMC in August 2012, denied diverting drugs but acknowledged her record keeping on administering narcotics was substandard.
Bridges had told the Maine board that she often got verbal orders from physicians to treat patients with pain medication while working in the emergency department.