They treated me like a kid. It was so frustrating. I went in, they gave me an IV with a ******** of meds, then also an intramuscular epi pen. I felt better in an hour, but they made me stay for another 5. They legally couldn’t keep me there, but that didn’t matter I guess. Whatever, I’m happy to be home and not itchy.
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — The first lawsuit brought amid reports that a nurse at a southern Oregon hospital replaced intravenous fentanyl drips with tap water seeks up to $11.5 million on behalf of the estate of a 65-year-old man who died.
The wrongful death suit was filed Monday against Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. It also names nurse Dani Marie Schofield as a defendant.
Last month, Medford police disclosed that they were investigating potential crimes against patients involving the theft of “controlled substances,” which may have led to “adverse” outcomes for some.
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that has helped fuel the nation’s overdose epidemic, but it is also used in legitimate medical settings to relieve severe pain. Drug theft from hospitals is a longstanding problem.
Police declined to provide more information. Schofield agreed to a voluntary nursing license suspension last November “pending the completion of an investigation,” according to Oregon Board of Nursing records. No charges have been filed.
Justin Idiart, a southern Oregon lawyer, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that he represents nine clients whose medication was swapped out, and five others have reached out for possible representation. They include the loved ones of patients who died as well as some who survived. All of his clients were treated by Schofield, he said.
Other local law firms also have been exploring litigation. Attorneys say they expect as many as three dozen cases could be filed.
The hospital did not immediately return an email from The Associated Press seeking comment Tuesday. The AP could not immediately locate contact information for Schofield, and it was not clear if Schofield is represented by an attorney.
“We were distressed to learn of this issue,” Asante said in a statement last month. “We reported it to law enforcement and are working closely with them.”
Idiart filed the lawsuit in Jackson County Circuit Court over the death of Horace E. Wilson, who died in February 2022. Wilson, the founder of a cannabis company called Decibel Farms in Jacksonville, Oregon, was treated at the hospital after he fell off a ladder. He suffered bleeding from his spleen and had it removed.
But doctors then noted “unexplained high fevers, very high white blood cell counts, and a precipitous decline,” the complaint said. Tests confirmed an infection of treatment-resistant bacteria, Staphylococcus epidermidis. Wilson progressed to multi-system organ failure and died weeks later.
Idiart said patients who were deprived of medication suffered as a result of the medication diversion. In Wilson’s case, his family believed he was in pain even though he was supposed to be sedated, Idiart said.
Asante last December contacted Medford police regarding a former employee “that they believe was involved in the theft of fentanyl prescribed to patients resulting in some adverse patient outcomes,” the complaint said.
That month, hospital representatives “began contacting patients and their relatives telling them a nurse had replaced fentanyl with tap water causing bacterial infections,” it said.
Halo Infinite is killing its seasonal model in 2024. Three years after its initial launch, the live-service multiplayer shooter is shifting toward more bite-sized, 20-level battle passes arriving every four to six weeks. Developer 343 industries announced the content change in its January update stream on January 19, along with several other major features, cosmetics, and more that are set to arrive on the FPS this year
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This guide will take you through everything you need to know about Halo Infinite in 2024—and it’s all looking rather exciting.
Halo Infinite in 2024: Goodbye Seasons, hello Operations
343 Industries didn’t mince words regarding the future of Halo Infinite’s content releases. As community director Brian Jarrard said during the stream, “we’re shifting away from seasons.” Seasons would arrive every few months, usually with some kind of theme and 100-tiers of unlockables through the battle pass. Instead, you can now look forward to regular “Operations,” starting with “Spirit of Fire” on January 30. Each Operation will have 20 levels of rewards to chew through, so while they’re not called “seasons” any more, things should still feel somewhat similar.
Operation Spirit of Fire isn’t the only thing arriving on January 30, however. You can look forward to the following additions once this update arrives:
Mark IV armor core (free for all players)
The ability to swap shoulders across different armor cores
A new 4v4 arena map named “Illusion”
Get hyped for Halo Infinite’s new map, “Illusion”
The new map, “Illusion” will have a symmetrical layout, making it great for competitive play as it ensures more even starts for each team. There’s even a super-narrow corridor running straight through the center with an uninterrupted sightline between opposing enemy bases, which will likely be a magnet for some serious carnage. If you’ve ever played Husky Raid, which has teams of Spartans face off against one another in a simple corridor, you know how deadly hallways can get in Halo. There’s also a lot of variable elevation from what we saw in the stream.
This new map is looking really promising and should be an excellent addition to the map rotation across various playlists.
Gif: 343 Industries / Kotaku
But that’s not all! Remember that corridor running straight through the map? Well, if you step in there, you go invisible. Objective based games like capture the flag or even king of the hill ought to see some interesting plays with a stealthy option like that so readily available.
The possibility that future maps might contain interesting augmentations like readily accessible invisibility or unique power weapons sounds like a welcome change from the usual rollout of standard arena maps that recycle the same guns and traversal methods.
Halo Infinite is leaning into nostalgia
Though there have been a few variations on Halo’s iconic assault rifle in Infinite, the stock assault rifle is reminiscent of the one that appeared in 2010’s Halo Reach. Joining this will be a new skin for the assault rifle that makes it look just like the assault rifle from Halo Combat Evolved, the game that started it all. As it’s just a skin, it won’t come with any change in stats (sorry, no 60-round magazine). The skin will be a part of the paid version of the January 30 operation.
Screenshot: 343 Industries / Kotaku
And the new Mark IV armor core, which is from the 2009 RTS spinoff Halo Wars, will also drop as a free cosmetic for all players.
Finally, in what seems like a cosmetic element pulled from the new “Illusion” map, there’s a square-shaped overshield that looks straight out of Halo Combat Evolved. It’s little things like this which help sell Halo as a cohesive world—and given the amount of stylistic changes the series has gone through, these unifying features are more than welcome.
Forge and playlist updates are on the way
If you’re into Forge creations, there’s some other fun headed your way on January 30, including Covenant-themed items in a nod to the series’ main antagonists and lovers of all things purple. Extra color customization options will also be available on January 30, which will add even more color options to choose from across the wide variety of in-game objects in Forge. Finally, “script brains,” which is a fancy term for code that lets complex objects t behave in unique ways, can be saved to game modes and used on multiple maps—previously script brains were inherently tied to a specific map.
Screenshot: 343 Industries / Kotaku
There’re also Flood-themed items coming to Forge, as well. Based on Halo’s undead enemy faction, these assets look particularly gnarly. Brian Jarrard referred to them as “moist” on stream. You’re welcome.
Finally, Big Team Battle will get three community maps added into the rotation in February, as well as refreshes to Husky Raid, Squad Battle, and Firefight. But most importantly, a new way of selecting matches is expected to arrive sometime in 2024 that is similar to Halo: The Master Chief Collection’s “Match Composer,” which lets you search across broad categories like player count, game type, and more (instead of mode-specific playlists).If you’re sick of playlists locking you into the same game modes over and over again, this should be a great way to customize what games you want to play. It works wonderfully in The Master Chief Collection.
If you’re looking to get some more time in with Halo Infinite, 2024 is shaping up to be a very good year for the iconic shooter franchise.
South African-Canadian immigrant Elon Musk promised on September 27 that he’d test livestreaming on X (you know it as Twitter) “with some silly stuff,” he said, like a Diablo IV speedrun with no powerful Malignant Heart add-ons. On September 28, he decided to livestream the Texas-Mexico border in Eagle Pass, a five-hour drive from the border town he supposedly lives in, instead.
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With an awkward black cowboy hat sitting on his head and a black Dead Space shirt clinging to his red skin, Musk had the look of what he thinks is a real Texan (“My hat is ten years old,” he insisted. “I’ve hip-fired a 50 cal while walking”) concerned about “the border crisis.” He’s hoping his stuttering, freezing “citizen journalism” livestream will change the world, he wrote on Twitter.
But, unlike the powerful pieces of citizen journalism that provide primary-source insight into some of the world’s biggest crises, Musk did not organically capture the Texas border; he interviewed a local congressman and sheriff about “the illegals” and all the cars they’re stealing.
“All over the country,” Sheriff Randy Brown said.
“New York City is buckling under the load [of immigration] already,” Musk wrote on Twitter. This year, NYC reached its peak of homes-per-person since 1940, though many residents can’t afford to live in any of them.
Can Elon Musk solve the border crisis?
“As an immigrant to the United States,” Musk said during his stream, “I am extremely pro-immigrant. I believe that we need a greatly expanded legal immigration system.”
“But, then, by the same token, we should also not be allowing people in the country if they’re breaking the law,” continued Musk, who is currently facing criminal investigation by the Department of Justice. “That doesn’t make sense. The law is there for a reason.”
I have a personal relationship with immigration, too—both of my parents are immigrants, and throughout my life, I’ve seen the challenges that status guarantees you if you, unlike Musk, do not have a father to allegedly fund your move through emeralds. Immigrants whose lives are not studded with emeralds face a number of dehumanizing challenges once over the border, including a higher poverty rate than citizens, family separation, and a justice system built to crush them.
Immigration is a gargantuan, global and historical issue—the first “real Americans,” as we now understand that term, were law-breaking immigrants—and its many scar marks aren’t going to be massaged away by one billionaire…at least not one who keeps all his money.
“Pronouns in bio means the woke mind virus ate your brain,” Musk said on Twitter 16 minutes after writing that “Illegal immigration needs to stop.” Ugh, all his inflammatory opinions are giving me a headache. Next time, stick to Diablo IV.
The world of Sanctuary is huge and fast-travel alone won’t get you everywhere you need to go. Fortunately, Diablo IV gives players mounts to help them travel between dungeons and side-quests more quickly. Here’s how to get your first one.
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It’s actually really straightforward: Get to Act IV. When you arrive at the capital of the Fractured Peaks, Kyovashad, you’ll automatically get the quest “Mount: Doran’s Favor.” Simply head to the stables, talk to the stablemaster, then find Doran at the Cathedral. Boom, you’ve got a horse now! Sounds easy enough.
Unfortunately, you can’t do any of this until Acts I through III are completed. They can be done in any order, but III in particular can be a slog. If you mainline Diablo IV’s story, you can hit the beginning of Act IV in about 8-10 hours. From there you can indulge in Diablo IV’s horse armor microtransaction economy at length, or wait for sets to randomly drop from world events. What fun.
Still, it’s kind of a bummer that it takes so long to unlock mounts. The only real advantage is cutting down on backtracking—precious minutes that could be spent bashing skulls and finding more epic drops instead of running to the next quest marker. The good news is that unlocking mounts on one character will unlock them on all future characters, so when restarting with a new class you’ll have access to improved travel from the start, assuming you don’t opt to bypass the main campaign altogether on your alts.
Mounts are a first for Blizzard’s action-RPG series, as it trends toward becoming a live-service MMO. They help players quickly navigate the space in-between fast travel points. They’re finicky creatures though, and one important thing to note on PC is that your horse’s speed is directly proportional to how far away your cursor is from your character on the screen. Of course, if you’re playing as a Rogue like I am, you can effectively become your own mount. Neat!
Other publications wrote about the discourse, developers weighed in, and the lead-up to The Game Awards became less about speculation over which game would win GOTY (spoilers: it was Elden Ring) and more about whether or not Josef Fares would wear a skin-tight t-shirt again (spoilers: he didn’t).
Ultimately, it seems like my call-out worked. Numerous people who attended the event told me via DM that I shamed attendees into dressing better. The presenters and on-stage talent at this year’s Game Awards were almost uniformly sharper-dressed than in previous years, and even Phil Spencer seemed to be wearing a slightly more formal outfit.
The Game Awards is a chance to have fun with fashion and to lean into the themes that are so often in the games the night is celebrating, so it was great to see some people really doing that last night. That’s why I decided to highlight the best-dressed attendees and honorees at gaming’s biggest night. You all did amazing, sweeties.
