Medical examiners have determined that an 84-year-old woman who died at Britthaven nursing home in February had toxic levels of morphine in her system. They did not determine whether the woman’s death was a homicide or accidental.
According to officials, the Alzheimer’s patient, Rachel Holliday, was not prescribed any kind of painkiller. Other patients in the Chapel Hill nursing home’s Alzheimer’s unit also tested positive for opiates, a controlled substance often used as a painkiller.
The State Bureau of Investigation has been investigating the nursing home and Britthaven employees have been tested for drug use, with negative results.