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 730 of 730 cases · page 3 of 15.
| Case / When | Where | Setting | Drug | Method | Role | Prosecution status | Penalty | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Chicago pharmacy settles Controlled Substances Act claims after technicians stole hydrocodone
2025-09-15
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Illinois | Retail pharmacy in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood | Hydrocodone (more than 56,000 pills); recordkeeping gaps also cited for hydrocodone-acetaminophen and alprazolam | not stated | Two pharmacy technicians | not stated | none documented | source |
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Registered nurse stole fentanyl vials at work and altered medication logs to conceal theft
2025-09
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Oregon | workplace | fentanyl 100 mcg/2 mL (255 vials) | Stole 255 vials of fentanyl 100 mcg/2 mL and altered medication logs attempting to conceal the theft; tested positive for fentanyl on a for-cause drug screen at work; pleaded guilty and was convicted in federal court of felony acquiring or obtaining possession of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge. | not stated | License placed on 36-month probation; terms include no access to narcotics or controlled substances; Board order. | none documented | source |
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Michigan Practical Nurse Fined and Probated Over Gladstone Drug Diversion
2025-08-20
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Michigan Gladstone, Michigan |
not stated | not stated | not stated | Licensed practical nurse | not stated | none documented | source |
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Illinois hospital nurse fired over suspected opioid diversion loses federal discrimination appeal
2025-08-14
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Illinois | Acute care hospital | Two controlled opioids, including morphine, removed from a secure dispensing system | not stated | Registered nurse | not stated | none documented | source |
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Oklahoma grocery-chain pharmacy technician admitted stealing and selling hydrocodone and alprazolam
2025-08-13
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Oklahoma | Grocery-chain retail pharmacy in Oklahoma | Hydrocodone stock bottles, hydrocodone-acetaminophen 10mg/325mg and alprazolam | not stated | Pharmacy technician | not stated | none documented | source |
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Stamford Nurse Tampered with Hydromorphone and Fentanyl Vials
2025-08-12
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Connecticut Stamford, Connecticut |
Outpatient surgical center, Stamford, CT | Hydromorphone + fentanyl vials | Extracted with syringe, refilled with saline/water, returned to storage | not stated | Sentenced Aug 12, 2025 — 5 months prison + 3 yrs supervised release + $5K fine | $5,000 (criminal fine) | source |
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Lakeland Nurse Sentenced to 5+ Years for Stealing Fentanyl at Five Tampa Bay Hospitals
2025-08-08
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Florida Lakeland, Florida |
Multiple hospitals, Tampa Bay area, FL | Fentanyl — IV bags and secure medication lockers | Diverted patients' IV fentanyl into a cup or locker, diluted a bag ~50% with saline, self-injected | not stated | Pleaded guilty Apr 28, 2025; sentenced to 5 years 3 months in federal prison | none documented | source |
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West Virginia Veterinarian Ordered to Pay $956,709 Over Unaccounted-For Opioids
2025-08-05
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West Virginia Winfield, West Virginia |
Veterinary practice, Putnam County, WV | Oxycodone HCL and hydrocodone/acetaminophen | Ordered opioids far in excess of legitimate need, failed to secure or record them, and fabricated dispensing records to cover a 6,593-dose-unit shortfall found during a DEA inspection | not stated | Default judgment of $956,709 in civil penalties ordered Aug. 5, 2025; DEA registration surrendered | $956,709 (civil penalty) | source |
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Tennessee Board of Pharmacy fines pharmacist over Dayton diversion
2025-08
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Tennessee | not stated | not stated | not stated | Pharmacist | not stated | none documented | source |
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Tennessee Board of Pharmacy suspends pharmacist over Nashville diversion
2025-08
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Tennessee Nashville, Tennessee |
not stated | not stated | not stated | Pharmacist | not stated | none documented | source |
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Certified nursing assistant alleged to have diverted controlled substances from a resident at an assisted living facility
2025-08
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Washington Whatcom County, WA |
an assisted living facility | controlled substances | allegedly diverted controlled substances from a resident and attempted to conceal the theft | not stated | charged with unprofessional conduct | none documented | source |
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Pharmacy Owner Sentenced for Diverting Opioids From His Own Iowa Pharmacy
2025-07-28
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Iowa Fairfield, Iowa |
Pharmacist, owner/operator of Summit Pharmacy of Iowa, Fairfield, IA (June 2022-Nov. 2023) | Oxycodone and hydrocodone (3,500+ pills) and carisoprodol (400+ pills) | Ordered pills without recording them in pharmacy inventory, took stock pills, and pulled pills from the controlled-substance take-back collection bin | not stated | Sentenced July 28, 2025 to 4 years probation and a $9,500 fine | $9,500 (criminal fine) | source |
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Indiana critical access hospital faces board complaint after DEA admonition over unreported diversion
2025-07-14
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Indiana | 25-bed critical access hospital; pharmacy staffed 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. | not stated | not stated | not stated | not stated | none documented | source |
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Indiana pharmacy board rejects settlement over chain pharmacy diversion tied to employee case
2025-07-14
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Indiana | Chain community pharmacy (store #3129), Indiana | not stated | not stated | not stated | not stated | none documented | source |
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Travel Nurse Sentenced for Diverting Hydromorphone at West Virginia Hospital
2025-07-03
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West Virginia Beckley, West Virginia |
Travel nurse, Raleigh General Hospital, Beckley, WV (employed Sept. 2021-Feb. 2022) | Hydromorphone | Used own biometrics and a patient's health information to open an automated medication dispensing/monitoring machine, siphoned off drug, diluted the remaining vial, and voided transactions to conceal the theft | not stated | Pleaded guilty to obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and wrongful disclosure of health information; sentenced July 3, 2025 to 5 years prison; nursing license suspended indefinitely. Of the 5-year sentence, two years were for obtaining a controlled substance and three years for wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information. | none documented | source |
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Traveling Nurse Diverted Hydromorphone from Beckley Hospital Using Patients' Health Information
2025-07-03
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West Virginia Beckley, WV |
Raleigh General Hospital, Beckley, WV | Hydromorphone | Used biometrics and patients' health information to check out hydromorphone, siphoned off part of each vial, diluted the remainder, and canceled the transactions to conceal the removals | not stated | Sentenced Jul 3, 2025, to five years in prison; nursing privilege in WV indefinitely suspended | none documented | source |
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Eastern Pennsylvania hospital network pays $2.75 million to resolve controlled substances allegations
2025-07-02
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Pennsylvania | Multi-hospital health network, Lehigh Valley region | not stated | not stated | Hospital network as a registrant; conduct tied to pharmacy technician misconduct | not stated | none documented | source |
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Pennsylvania health system pays $2.75M to resolve DOJ claims over pharmacy technician diversion
2025-07-02
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Pennsylvania | Hospital pharmacy within a Pennsylvania health system | Controlled substances (specific drugs not identified) | not stated | Pharmacy technician (unnamed) | not stated | none documented | source |
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Registered nurse accused of obtaining controlled substance by fraud from resident's supply at North Hills Lifecare and Rehab
2025-07
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Arkansas Fort Smith, AR |
North Hills Lifecare and Rehab | a controlled substance | Allegedly signed out two tablets of a controlled substance from a resident's prescription supply after the resident had been discharged and transferred to another unit; documentation indicated the medication was administered, but the resident did not receive it, and the tablets were later found missing from inventory. | not stated | Arrested on one count of Obtaining Drugs by Fraud, a Class D felony. | none documented | source |
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Travel nurse at Beckley hospital diverted hydromorphone, sentenced to five years
2025-07
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West Virginia | Raleigh General Hospital, Beckley, WV | Hydromorphone | not stated | Travel nurse (Kentucky resident) working in southern West Virginia | not stated | none documented | source |
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Pharmacist Sentenced for Diverting Controlled Substances From Mason City Pharmacies
2025-06-17
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Iowa Mason City, Iowa |
Pharmacist employed at three retail pharmacies in Mason City, IA, 2008-2023 | Codeine, phentermine, alprazolam, clonazepam, lorazepam, pregabalin, tramadol | Created unauthorized prescriptions in existing patients' names, falsified prescription and inventory records — mostly after hours — then filled and paid for the prescriptions herself | not stated | Pleaded guilty Feb. 7, 2025; sentenced June 17, 2025 to 1 month in federal prison plus 1 year supervised release | none documented | source |
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Registered nurse diverted and abused controlled substances from places of employment
2025-06
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Oregon | places of employment | controlled substances | diverted controlled substances from places of employment and abused those controlled substances; failed to answer truthfully about drug diversion and substance abuse during license renewal and a Board investigation; medication documentation discrepancies including delays, wasting full packages instead of returning them, failing to document administrations, logging out medications hours early, unaccounted medications, and documenting administration before logging out | not stated | Suspension with conditions followed by probation; licensee admitted the allegations | none documented | source |
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Facility Administrator Sentenced for Diverting Opioids From Five Senior-Care Facilities
2025-05-28
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Iowa Iowa |
Administrator, five nursing and senior living facilities, Iowa (Sept. 2021-Nov. 2022) | Fentanyl patches, hydrocodone, morphine, oxycodone | Stole medications from facilities' narcotics emergency kits and locked medication carts and rooms | not stated | Sentenced May 28, 2025 to 3 years probation, a $5,000 fine, and $1,975.61 restitution | $5,000 (criminal fine) | source |
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Illinois nursing-facility administrator sentenced to probation for diverting opioids from emergency kits and medication carts
2025-05-28
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Illinois | At least five healthcare facilities (federal case prosecuted in the Southern District of Iowa) | Fentanyl patches, hydrocodone, morphine, oxycodone | not stated | Administrator at nursing and senior living facilities | not stated | none documented | source |
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Oklahoma hospital night-shift nurse disciplined after morphine waste questioned and patient reported no dose
2025-05-20
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Oklahoma | Hospital | Morphine (Schedule II controlled dangerous substance) | not stated | Registered nurse working as a staff nurse on the 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift | not stated | none documented | source |
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Oklahoma pharmacy technician altered oxycodone counts under coworkers' credentials and sold the pills
2025-05-07
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Oklahoma | Pharmacy (employer not named in source) | Oxycodone HCl 10 mg and 15 mg (1,171 tablets) | not stated | Pharmacy technician | not stated | none documented | source |
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Pharmacist and Spouse Sentenced for Diverting Opioids From Kentucky Pharmacy
2025-05-05
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Kentucky Franklin, Kentucky |
Pharmacist-owner and spouse, retail pharmacy, Franklin, KY, May 2020-Jan. 2023 | Oxycodone and hydrocodone | Diverted opioids from pharmacy stock for resale/trade; fraudulently billed Medicaid and insurers; falsely reported a robbery to the DEA to explain missing inventory | not stated | Convicted on conspiracy, theft-of-medical-products, unlawful distribution, and health care fraud counts; pharmacist sentenced to 3 years prison plus $17,518.19 restitution, spouse to 2 years plus $5,730.43 restitution | $17,518 (restitution) | source |
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Registered nurse obtained Vyvanse from workplace without authorization and self-administered
2025-05
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Oregon | Their workplace (as stated in the source) | Vyvanse (generic equivalent) | obtained a generic equivalent to Vyvanse from their workplace without a medical order and without authorization; took it home and administered it to themselves | not stated | registered nurse license placed on 36-month probation; admitted allegations | none documented | source |
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Detroit-area emergency room nurse pleads guilty to tampering with fentanyl vials
2025-05
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Michigan | Hospital emergency room in the Detroit area | Fentanyl (Schedule II) | not stated | Registered nurse (emergency room) | not stated | none documented | source |
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Southern Colorado pharmacy paid $250,000 to resolve allegations of years of unlawful controlled-substance dispensing
2025-05
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Colorado | Independent retail pharmacy in Trinidad, Colorado | Controlled substances (not specified in release) | not stated | Pharmacy operator (corporate entity) | not stated | none documented | source |
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New Haven retail pharmacy paid $192K over controlled substance recordkeeping failures
2025-04-24
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Connecticut | Community pharmacy on Dixwell Avenue, New Haven | Controlled substances generally | not stated | Retail pharmacy (DEA registrant) | not stated | none documented | source |
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Michigan Registered Nurse Summarily Suspended Over Canton Drug Diversion
2025-04-16
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Michigan Canton, Michigan |
not stated | not stated | not stated | Registered nurse | not stated | none documented | source |
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Michigan Pharmacy Technician Surrenders License Over Westland Drug Diversion
2025-04-16
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Michigan Westland, Michigan |
not stated | not stated | not stated | Pharmacy technician | not stated | none documented | source |
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Michigan Registered Nurse Summarily Suspended Over Chesaning Drug Diversion
2025-04-15
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Michigan Chesaning, Michigan |
not stated | not stated | not stated | Registered nurse | not stated | none documented | source |
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Traveling Nurse Sentenced for Tampering With Morphine at Massachusetts Rehabilitation Facility
2025-04-04
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Massachusetts Danvers, Massachusetts |
Traveling/contract registered nurse, nursing and rehabilitation facility, Danvers, MA (assignment Dec. 2021-May 2022) | Morphine | Diverted morphine from patient-assigned bottles and diluted the remaining liquid to disguise the theft; caught via a law-enforcement controlled operation comparing bottles before and after her shift | not stated | Pleaded guilty Nov. 2024 to tampering with a consumer product; sentenced April 4, 2025 to 3 months prison plus 2 years supervised release, barred from nursing or controlled-substance-access work | none documented | source |
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Nurse Anesthetist Sentenced for Diverting Fentanyl from ~50 Patients
2025-04-02
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Iowa Dubuque, Iowa |
Nurse anesthetist, hospital in Dubuque, IA (earlier diversion at a Platteville, WI hospital) | Fentanyl — diverted from nearly 50 patients Oct 2022-Jan 2023 | Diverted fentanyl for personal use, illegally accessed patient records and made false statements in them to make it appear fentanyl had been given to patients when it had not | not stated | Pleaded guilty Nov 13, 2024; sentenced Apr 2, 2025 to 3 months prison, 6 months home confinement, $5,000 fine, 3 yrs supervised release | $5,000 (criminal fine) | source |
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Hospital pharmacist diverted ketamine and falsified destruction records at Mercy Hospital Anderson Pharmacy
2025-04
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Ohio Cincinnati, OH |
Mercy Hospital Anderson Pharmacy | ketamine, a Schedule III controlled substance | The Board found the pharmacist stole ketamine from his employer pharmacy over about six months, sold two bottles for $100 each, provided ketamine to a drug dealer, and falsified drug destruction records by showing a vial to a witness, having the required form signed, then leaving without destroying the drugs. | not stated | Permanently revoked the pharmacist license; removed the summary suspension order. | none documented | source |
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Pharmacist diverted phentermine and other prescription drugs from a pharmacy using fictitious patient profiles
2025-04
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Maryland Wicomico County, MD |
a pharmacy in Wicomico County, Maryland | phentermine (Schedule IV controlled substance), cyclobenzaprine, tizanidine, gabapentin, and ibuprofen | Created fictitious patient profiles and used them to fill and purchase prescriptions for herself, including phentermine, a Schedule IV controlled substance; a physician's assistant called in fake prescriptions; purchases were made with cash; the pharmacist admitted the conduct. She initially denied the conduct but admitted it after being confronted with records tying her driver's license to the purchases. | not stated | Pharmacist license summarily suspended; ordered to return registrations and licenses; post-deprivation show-cause hearing available. | none documented | source |
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Nevada registered nurse reprimanded for drug diversion in spring 2025 board actions
2025-04
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Nevada | not stated | not stated | not stated | Registered nurse | not stated | none documented | source |
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Nebraska Nurse Charged Over Surgery Center Propofol and Fentanyl Theft
2025-04
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Nebraska North Platte, Nebraska |
North Platte Surgery Center, North Platte, NE | Propofol and fentanyl | Between March and April 2023, took propofol and fentanyl from the surgery center's stock for personal use; admitted the theft to his employer in April 2023 and was fired after an investigation found vials missing from inventory | not stated | Charged in U.S. District Court with acquiring a controlled substance by fraud, reported April 2025; faces up to 4 years in prison if convicted | none documented | source |
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Michigan Nurse Practitioner Summarily Suspended Over Bay City Drug Diversion
2025-03-28
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Michigan Bay City, Michigan |
not stated | not stated | not stated | Registered nurse / nurse practitioner | not stated | none documented | source |
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Contract Nurse Sentenced for Tampering With Morphine at Kentucky Elder-Care Facility
2025-03-25
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Kentucky Lawrenceburg, Kentucky |
Contract registered nurse, elder/infirm-care health facility, Lawrenceburg, KY (Jan.-Aug. 2023) | Morphine | Stole morphine prescribed for three patients, replaced it with water and blue food coloring, and administered the tampered substance to at least one patient | not stated | Pleaded guilty to tampering with a consumer product; sentenced March 25, 2025 to 60 months in federal prison plus 3 years supervised release | none documented | source |
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Kentucky Nurse Sentenced Over Elder-Care Morphine Substitution
2025-03-24
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Kentucky Lawrenceburg, Kentucky |
Heritage Hall Rehab & Wellness Center, Anderson County (Lawrenceburg), KY | Morphine | On August 27, 2023, took morphine prescribed for three patients with significant disease and pain concerns and replaced it with water and blue food coloring made to resemble the real medication; took at least seven syringes of stolen morphine and administered the tampered substitute to at least one patient | not stated | Sentenced March 24, 2025, to 60 months in federal prison for tampering with a consumer product, plus three years of supervised release | none documented | source |
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Cardiac Catheterization Lab Nurse Sentenced for Tampering With Fentanyl at Miami Hospital
2025-03-18
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Florida Miami, Florida |
Registered nurse, cardiac catheterization lab, Miami hospital (July 10-Aug. 18, 2023) | Fentanyl and midazolam | Extracted painkillers from vials for personal use and replaced with saline; refilled discarded biohazard-bin vials with saline to substitute for stolen ones | not stated | Pleaded guilty Dec. 13, 2024 to tampering with consumer products; sentenced March 18, 2025 to more than two years in federal prison | none documented | source |
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South Carolina Practical Nurse Charged Over Nursing Home Tramadol Theft
2025-03-18
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South Carolina Myrtle Beach, South Carolina |
Angel Oak Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Myrtle Beach, SC | Tramadol (Schedule IV) | Stole a quantity of Tramadol from two residents on October 23, 2024, and unlawfully obtained it for personal use while depriving the patients of their prescribed medication | not stated | Booked March 18, 2025, on two counts of Exploitation of a Vulnerable Adult and two counts of Theft of a Controlled Substance, First Offense | none documented | source |
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UCSF pediatric anesthesiologist arrested after being found unconscious with a propofol syringe
2025-03-05
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California | UCSF (University of California, San Francisco) medical campus | Propofol | not stated | Pediatric anesthesiologist | not stated | none documented | source |
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Tennessee Board of Pharmacy revokes pharmacy technician over Goodlettsville diversion
2025-03
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Tennessee Goodlettsville, Tennessee |
not stated | not stated | not stated | Pharmacy technician | not stated | none documented | source |
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Tennessee Board of Pharmacy suspends pharmacist over Knoxville diversion
2025-03
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Tennessee Knoxville, Tennessee |
not stated | not stated | not stated | Pharmacist | not stated | none documented | source |
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Tennessee Board of Pharmacy revokes pharmacy technician over Lafayette diversion
2025-03
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Tennessee Lafayette, Tennessee |
not stated | not stated | not stated | Pharmacy technician | not stated | none documented | source |
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Tennessee Board of Pharmacy revokes pharmacy technician over Memphis diversion
2025-03
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Tennessee Memphis, Tennessee |
not stated | not stated | not stated | Pharmacy technician | not stated | none documented | source |
Every filtered view has its own URL, so it can be linked or bookmarked. The same filters work on the JSON feed: /api/cases.json.
What each column does and doesn't cover
Every case states When (date) and Where (state) — 730 of 730. Beyond that, a blank cell means the source record does not state that fact, not that it did not happen:
- Setting: stated in 649 of 730 cases (89%)
- Drug: stated in 657 of 730 cases (90%)
- Method: stated in 474 of 730 cases (65%)
- Prosecution status: stated in 474 of 730 cases (65%); a documented penalty (fine, settlement, or restitution) exists for 77 of 730 cases (11%)
- Role: stated in only 255 of 730 cases (35%) — 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
Why: documented failure modes
A separate text analysis of the 723 case summaries found 371 cases (51.3%) matching at least one named failure-mode pattern below. 352 cases (48.7% of 723) matched none of these categories - most of these are short board-order summaries ("licensee diverted controlled substances from their employer") that state an outcome without describing a mechanism, not cases where no failure occurred. A case can match zero, one, or several categories — these are corpus-level counts, not a per-case tag, and are not used as a row filter above: reproducing the exact category membership per case from the stored patterns did not exactly match this file's hand-curated counts on independent re-check, so no individual case here is labeled with a "why" that this code cannot verify.
Drug swapped for a substitute and the container returned to circulation
137 of 723
Text names an act of replacing/refilling the drug with a named substitute (saline, water, an OTC pill, a cleaning product, etc.), OR uses swap/dilute/tamper to describe the same act, so the altered container went back into use looking unchanged.
Outright theft or embezzlement of stock (no substitution described)
120 of 723
Text uses stole/stealing/embezzled to describe removal of controlled substances.
Records, charts, orders, inventories, or receipts falsified to conceal the diversion
58 of 723
Text uses a form of "falsif-" within 60 characters of a record-type noun (chart, inventory, transaction, receipt, prescription, etc.).
Prescriptions fraudulent, forged, invalid, or written outside legitimate medical practice
53 of 723
Text explicitly characterizes the prescription(s) as fraudulent, forged, invalid, or issued outside legitimate medical practice (including "pill mill" language).
Automated dispensing cabinet used as the point of exploitation
30 of 723
Text names an automated dispensing cabinet/machine, or the acronym ADC, as part of the mechanism.
Waste/wastage claim used to cover the diversion, or wastage not witnessed
38 of 723
Text describes recording or claiming drug as "waste" (when it was not), pulling drug from a waste stream, or wastage that was not independently witnessed.
Cancelled, voided, or falsely entered dispensing-system transactions to hide the removal
11 of 723
Text describes cancelling, voiding, or falsely entering a system transaction (an order, a return-to-stock entry, a cancel entry) specifically to conceal a removal.
Facility-level failure to maintain accurate inventory or required records (not one employee concealing a theft)
24 of 723
Text states the FACILITY (not an individual concealing personal use) failed to maintain required inventory/records, or names a recordkeeping violation/negligent recordkeeping as the basis for the government action.
Drug obtained using a false identity, a fictitious patient, or impersonation
11 of 723
Text describes using a fictitious patient profile, a false name/identity, stolen patient information, or impersonating a licensed prescriber to obtain the drug.
Known or suspected loss/theft/diversion not reported to DEA or a licensing board
10 of 723
Text states a failure to notify or report a loss, theft, or suspected diversion to a regulator.
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.