Rochester Woman Sentenced In Unlawful Practice of Medicine Case

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Rochester woman has admitted giving morphine to a patient even though she wasn't licensed to do so.

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Court documents show that 57-year-old Josephina Amaka Okeke pleaded guilty to the unlawful practice of medicine involving a hospice patient.

According to a plea agreement, Okeke admitted she administered the drug even though she knew it was illegal. According to court documents, she said she was told to administer the painkiller by her employer.

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Police became involved in May 2021 after the female resident died in 2020 and the “medical examiner opined that the victim died as a result of the toxic effects of morphine.”

Okeke was employed as a home health aide at the facility. The woman who died was in hospice care and had a doctor order to receive a dose of morphine every 3 hours.

According to the criminal complaint, “Okeke gave victim morphine once every hour for five hours.” A co-worker told an investigator Okeke was to give a mouth swab to the woman, not morphine. He said he later “saw Okeke re-writing the times in the book.”

Okeke was sentenced Tuesday to 30 days of home confinement and ordered to pay $300 in fines and fees. She was also placed on probation for one year.