Nurse Sentenced to Federal Prison for Stealing Pain Medications from Residents in Two Iowa Nursing Homes
A 36-year-old licensed practical nurse (LPN) was recently sentenced to serve 15 months in a federal prison after pleading guilty in October 2018 to one count of acquiring a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, deception, and subterfuge; one count of false statements relating to healthcare matters; and one count of contempt of court which occurred in May 2019.
The LPN admitted in her plea agreement that in November 2016 and again in January 2018 she had worked in two different nursing homes, and used a variety of methods to steal pain medications for her personal use. She used residents’ identities to obtain hydrocodone pills and diverted pain medications prescribed for residents with chronic pain by replacing the medications with anti-psychotic and anti-seizure pills that had similar shape and color. In her attempt to cover up her thefts, she put an original medication log in the trash and replaced it with a fake log she had created. When the first nursing home discovered the LPN’s thefts, she was asked to submit to a drug test. In an attempt to fool the test, instead of providing her own urine, the nurse substituted water from the toilet; however, that was easily discernable, and she was forced to provide a legitimate urine sample. The genuine sample tested positive for opiates, marijuana, and hydrocodone. Both nursing homes terminated her employment after each discovered her thefts.
After being charged in federal court, the LPN violated the terms of her release more than 30 times. A federal judge revoked her release after she burglarized her sister’s home and stole her sister’s prescription drugs. Her sister suffered from serious medical conditions that required the prescriptions.
Along with the nurse’s sentence of 15 months’ imprisonment, she was ordered to make more than $500 in restitution. She must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Compliance Perspective
Failure to prevent diversion of medications prescribed for treating residents’ pain or replacement of those medications with potentially harmful substitutes may result in harm to residents and might be considered abuse and neglect and the provision of sub-standard quality of care, in violation of state and federal regulations.
Discussion Points:
- Review policies and procedures regarding management of controlled substances, reporting any reasonable suspicion of a crime, performing background checks, and checking prior employment histories to avoid hiring staff with possible criminal records and negative references.
- Train staff to be alert to potential drug diversion incidents and on the importance of reporting to their supervisor or through the Hotline any suspicious incidents, such as a resident who is prescribed pain medication but reports unrelieved pain.
- Periodically audit to determine if residents who are prescribed pain medications have their pain under control, and follow-up on any negative findings.
