DOCTOR TO SERVE PRISON TIME FOR TAKING PATIENTS' MORPHINE

Dr. Nancy Moyer, who was convicted of taking morphine from hospitalized
patients for her own use, was sentenced Friday to almost six years in
prison by U.S. District Judge David Doty.

She also was ordered to submit to three years of supervised release and to
perform 250 hours of community service after she is released.

In November a federal jury in Minneapolis found that Moyer had tampered
with the morphine supply of some intensive-care patients while she was on a
critical-care rotation at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park. The
offenses occurred in January 1997.

She also was found guilty of inappropriately writing prescriptions to
herself for painkillers.

Moyer, who was an internist at Hennepin County Medical Center in
Minneapolis, admitted to having a drug addiction. The Minnesota Board of
Medical Practice has since suspended her license to practice medicine.

During the sentencing hearing, Moyer apologized to the patients and their
families and asked for forgiveness.

"Taking morphine was very, very wrong," she said. "I betrayed the trust
between a physician and her patient. I wish I could take back what I did,
but I can't."

John Lundquist, Moyer's attorney, argued that Moyer should be sentenced to
a long and onerous period of community service, and at most a short jail
term. He cited Moyer's cooperation with the investigation, her willingness
to go through treatment and to submit to continuous monitoring.

Prosecutor Alison Vander Vort argued for a "just jail sentence" because
Moyer deprived patients of pain medication that they needed. "Dr. Moyer
made a choice when she went into those IV bags," Vander Vort said.

Sheryl Zinter, one of the patients whom Moyer took morphine from, said
after the hearing that she felt the sentence was justified: "I don't
understand why someone we trusted took such chances with my life."

© Copyright 1998 Star Tribune.