In two separate cases, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado held nurses accountable after they stole controlled substances from their patients.
The first Registered Nurse (RN) was employed in the Intensive Care Unit at a hospital in Colorado in 2019 when she used her position to divert fentanyl, a schedule II controlled substance, for her own personal use. The RN admitted that between June 2019 and September 2019, she stole fentanyl by removing it from the IV bags of ventilated patients using a sterile syringe. Additionally, she admitted to stealing fentanyl remaining in vials of the drug after patient administration. She stated that she would remove the excess drug from the vials and replace the stolen drug with saline, then have a fellow nurse witness her “waste” or dispose of the saline.
In pleading guilty to the single-count information in the case, she specifically admitted that on September 8, 2019, she removed a bag of fentanyl from the automated medication control machine at the hospital under a different nurse’s login credentials. She then removed fentanyl from the IV bag for personal use.
On August 27, 2021, she was sentenced to three years of probation. The government agreed to recommend a probationary sentence in consideration of the defendant’s confession and her cooperation in disclosing full information on her diversion which is a matter potentially affecting the public health and the integrity of the health care system. The felony offense is punishable by up to four years of imprisonment and a fine of $250,00, per count.
The second nurse used her position as a RN to access the rooms of patients she was not assigned to care for in a separate unit of a Colorado hospital. She would falsely and fraudulently tell patients that she was conducting a study on the effectiveness of Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA) pumps. She would then use a key to open the machine that secured the syringe of hydromorphone that was to be dispensed to the patient. She would remove a portion of the drug from the syringe, which she would keep, then return the syringe to the patient’s PCA. The defendant illegally obtained controlled substances in this manner from three patients on four different occasions.
When the RN was confronted by law enforcement regarding her actions, the defendant lied about the diversions and persisted in her false story that she was engaged in a study with a well known university. The defendant engaged in obstructionist conduct by producing to law enforcement a false e-mail that she stated came from a friend who asked her to participate in the research. The defendant created the false e-mail herself using a fictitious e-mail account she created in the name of this alleged friend.
On August 26, 2021, the RN pleaded guilty and will be sentenced November 30, 2021.
The DEA Denver Field Division Special Agent in Charge Deanne Reuter stated, “We want it to be known that healthcare professionals who take advantage of patients in need by stealing their medications will be held accountable to the law.”
Issue:
Drug diversion is a growing problem in healthcare. Licensed staff who have access to controlled medications may be at risk for committing fraud and theft of controlled substances if they develop a substance abuse problem. All leaders in healthcare should be aware of the warning signs of a controlled substance disorder and be prepared to address any acts of drug diversion properly and quickly.
Discussion Points:
- Review your policy and procedures on preventing, identifying, and responding to drug diversion. Update as needed.
- Train all appropriate staff on actions that can be taken to prevent, identify, and respond to any suspicion of drug diversion, and what should be done if it occurs. Document that these trainings occurred and file the signed document in each employee’s education file.
- Periodically audit to ensure that all controlled substances are accounted for each shift, and that proper documentation of all controlled substances has occurred.
