Case Database
Filter every documented case by date, drug, state, setting, role, prosecution status, and penalty. Search accepts brand or generic drug names, facility names, and cities.
Showing 39 of 931 cases · page 2 of 5.
| Case / When | Where | Setting | Drug | Method | Role | Prosecution status | Penalty | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Hospital Pharmacy Manager Stole 35,000+ Opioid Vials from Secure Vault
2024-07-28
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Indiana Muncie, Indiana |
Pharmacy manager, IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital (Muncie, IN) | Hydromorphone (~317,000 mg) + methadone (~41,390 mg) + morphine (290 mg) — 35,000+ vials | Diverted an average of ~500 vials/month from the secure vault over ~5 years; hospital audit and search warrant found drugs at his home. Diversion was allegedly disguised using normally-unused transaction types recorded as legitimate transfers to the hospital's outpatient clinics. | not stated | Arrested Jul 2024; felony charges filed Aug 2025 — possession, theft, obtaining a controlled substance by fraud/deceit, unlawful possession of a syringe, forgery; case pending | $44,000 (civil penalty) | source |
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Hospital pharmacy manager diverted hydromorphone, methadone and morphine from a CII safe using unused transaction types
2024-07
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Indiana Muncie, IN |
Indiana University Health Ball Memorial Hospital, Inc. | hydromorphone, methadone, morphine sulfate | Between approximately November 2020 and July 2024, a pharmacist serving as the hospital's pharmacy manager used normally-unused transaction types in the automated inventory management system to remove controlled substances from the CII safe and take personal possession of them, using his duty of stocking controlled substances at affiliated outpatient pain and orthopedic centers as cover. The hospital's controlled-substance tracking policies did not include regular auditing or comparison of patient utilization at those centers, CII Safe Review Sale reports, or All CII Safe Events reports, which allowed the discrepancies to go undetected. | not stated | The hospital's pharmacy license and controlled substances registration were placed on indefinite probation for not less than three years, with quarterly outside audits for the first two years, two unannounced compliance inspections, required diversion-prevention training for pharmacy leadership, and a $44,000 fine; the hospital reported the loss to the DEA and Board in July 2024 and filed an amended DEA Form 106 in November 2024, and in August 2025 the county prosecutor's office filed charges against the pharmacist. | none documented | source |
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Boston-Area ER Nurse Sentenced for 412 Unauthorized Opioid Withdrawals
2023-11-15
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Massachusetts Boston, Massachusetts |
Hospital emergency department | Morphine, fentanyl, hydromorphone | 412 unauthorized cabinet withdrawals billed to 299 already-discharged patients over ~5 months. The 412 unauthorized withdrawals were tied to 299 discharged patients. | not stated | Pleaded guilty; sentenced to 3 months' imprisonment and 1 year supervised release (Nov. 2023) | none documented | source |
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Iowa Nurse Pleads Guilty to Diverting Fentanyl from Waterloo Hospital via False Wasting
2023-10-11
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Iowa Waterloo, Iowa |
Hospital, Waterloo, Iowa (part of a multi-hospital network) | Fentanyl, hydromorphone, and morphine | Falsely documented wasting full vials after patients purportedly refused the drug, then diverted the undocumented remainder for personal use | not stated | Pleaded guilty, October 2023, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa; nursing license forfeited; sentencing pending | none documented | source |
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VA nurse pleaded guilty to stealing fentanyl, morphine and hydromorphone
2023-10
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Colorado Aurora, CO |
Denver Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System | fentanyl, morphine and hydromorphone | stealing fentanyl, morphine and hydromorphone from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Denver | not stated | Pleaded guilty; sentenced to 14 months in prison | none documented | source |
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Sioux City Nurse Pleads Guilty to Stealing Opioids from Hospital Employer
2023-08-31
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Iowa Sioux City, Iowa |
Hospital, Sioux City, Iowa | Fentanyl, morphine, hydromorphone, and hydrocodone | Diverted drugs intended for patients and falsified controlled-substance disbursement log entries to conceal the shortage | not stated | Pleaded guilty, August 30, 2023, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa; sentencing pending | none documented | source |
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Missoula Hospital Nurse Sentenced for Diverting Opioids Flagged by Distribution Audit
2023-03-22
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Montana Missoula, Montana |
Hospital (St. Patrick Hospital) | Oxycodone, hydromorphone, hydrocodone, fentanyl, morphine | Ordered opioids at above-peer rates and diverted hospice-style waste amounts by substituting saline before disposal | not stated | Pleaded guilty; sentenced to 3 years' probation (March 2023) | none documented | source |
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South Dakota Pharmacist Sentenced in Opioid Diversion Case (2023)
2023
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South Dakota South Dakota |
Registered pharmacist in Scotland, SD who received controlled-substance deliveries for a hospital and pharmacy; conduct June 2019 to February 2022 (South Dakota) | Oxycodone, morphine, hydrocodone | Charge as worded in the source: Theft in Connection with Health Care; Obtaining a Controlled Substance by Misrepresentation, Fraud, Forgery, Deception, and Subterfuge (three counts) | not stated | Sentenced (2023) to 24 months probation | none documented | source |
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What each column does and doesn't cover
Every case states When (date) and Where (state) — 931 of 931. Beyond that, a blank cell means the source record does not state that fact, not that it did not happen:
- Setting: stated in 850 of 931 cases (91%)
- Drug: stated in 858 of 931 cases (92%)
- Method: stated in 675 of 931 cases (73%)
- Prosecution status: stated in 675 of 931 cases (73%); a documented penalty (fine, settlement, or restitution) exists for 107 of 931 cases (11%)
- Role: stated in only 255 of 931 cases (27%) — filtering or sorting by role silently hides the rest of the registry, which may still describe the same role in prose without a structured field
Disclaimer
Case summaries are based on public records (DOJ press releases, court documents, news reports). Charges are allegations unless a conviction is noted. Analysis is educational, not legal advice.
Last reviewed: September 2026 · Content is educational, not legal advice.