SPENCER, Iowa (KCAU) — A former nurse who worked in northwest Iowa, is accused of overdosing patients at the Spencer Hospital and illegally obtaining prescription drugs. 36-year-old Rachel Martinez, of Sioux Falls, S.D., is charged with one count of prohibited act – prescription drug violation (Schedule I, II, III) obtain by deceit, a class C felony; one count of prohibited act – prescription drug violation (Schedule IV or V) obtain by deceit, an aggravated misdemeanor; and four counts of wanton neglect of a dependent person, a serious misdemeanor.

According to court documents, Martinez was working at the Spencer Hospital and was assigned to care for four separate patients on four different days in late 2022:

1. On Nov. 9, 2022, Martinez was meant to administer hydrocodone to a patient every four hours but instead administered it three times over a five hour period, overdosing the patient. She was also meant to administer tramadol once every six hours, but did so four times over six and a half hours. Documents state Martinez again overdosed a patient on Nov. 19, 2022. A doctor ordered a patient to be given 3mg of melatonin, but Martinez allegedly gave 6mg.
2. On Nov. 21, 2022, documents stated that Martinez administered hydrocodone twice to another patient in a three hour period when the doctor ordered it for only once every four hours. She also allegedly gave zofran, morphine and tramadol over the same three houses, with documents saying “all of these extra narcotics with the Hydrocodone would have further overdosed” the patient.
3. Martinez was assigned to care for a patient on Dec. 7, 2022. The patient was in the hospital due to having an allergic reaction while getting cancer treatment. The doctor ordered that the patient could have IV Benadryl if they had another allergic reaction. Martinez allegedly gave the patient the drug to sleep, telling another nurse that the patient was “being annoying with the call light” and not sleeping.
4. Additionally, Martinez allegedly withdrew a hydrocodone and tramadol pill under a patient’s name on Nov. 9, 2022. Documents state she obtained the pills by “fraud, deceit, misrepresentation or subterfuge,” and kept the pills for herself.

Martinez was arrested on Dec. 1, 2023, and bonded out a day later. She pleaded not guilty to the charges on Jan. 2 in a written arraignment. A pretrial conference for the case is scheduled for April 16, with the trial set for May 21.