Michelle Torgerson, a Minnesota nurse, has been sentenced to nine months in prison for staging a flu clinic on a college campus and using a diluted vaccine.
She apologized for giving watered-down shots to at least 43 students and faculty members at Augsburg College in Minneapolis in December 2004. The 34-year-old charged $20 per shot. Health officials say although the shots weren't strong enough to ward off the flu, they also didn't pose any danger to patients.
Torgerson fled when school officials confronted her and initially claimed the clinic was part of a fundraising drive for her 9-year-old daughter's school.
In May, she pleaded guilty to a felony charge of dispensing a drug without a prescription and admitted to thinning the flu vaccine with saline to increase the quantity of her supply. The indictment said she pocketed about $580 in cash.
During sentencing, Torgerson said, "My intent was to help my daughter with a fundraiser. My intent was to be a good nurse and a good mother, and I'd like to continue to do so."
Under an agreement with a state regulatory board, she will stop working as a nurse.
"Somebody could have been hurt and hurt bad. Anything less than a prison term would not be reasonable," U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle said in court.
Torgerson must report to prison on Feb. 7 and will likely serve time in Illinois. She's also been ordered to pay nearly $4,600 in restitution to her victims.
This Article is from MyDNA.com
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