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| - German prosecutors on Monday released a nurse accused of poisoning five newborn babies with morphine, after traces of the drug in a syringe found in her locker proved a false alarm. Following her arrest Thursday, "further investigation proved that the grave suspicions against the woman could not be upheld," prosecutors in southern city Ulm said in a statement. While initial tests had pointed to morphine in the feeding syringe filled with breast milk in her locker, "further analysis of the contents did not confirm this suspicion," they added. None of the five babies at the Ulm University Hospital found to have been given morphine were expected to suffer lasting harm "because of immediate action taken by the staff", police said last week. The infants aged between one day and five weeks, some of them premature, were all staying in the same hospital room when they developed breathing problems in the early hours of December 20. Staff initially thought they had caught an infection, but test results instead showed traces of morphine -- although none had been prescribed the powerful painkiller. Morphine is administered to treat severe pain. In infants, it is also often used to treat withdrawal symptoms in babies born to drug-addicted mothers. A morphine overdose can lead to life-threatening respiratory failure. Prosecutors had initially brought charges of attempted manslaughter and grievous bodily harm against the nurse. But a court agreed Sunday to their request to drop the custody order against the woman and release her immediately. Prosecutors said they had apologised to her for the error, and plan to offer more details about the investigation at an 11:00 am (1000 GMT) press conference Tuesday. tgb/kih
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