An emergency room nurse at a hospital in Pekin, Illinois was convicted of unlawful possession of a controlled substance following a drug diversion investigation by the Illinois State Police Medicaid Fraud Control Bureau. Investigators determined the nurse unlawfully obtained hydromorphone, a Schedule II opioid analgesic, while working in the emergency department and diverted it for personal use.
The matter came to state police attention on February 2, 2016, when the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation forwarded a complaint about suspected diversion at the hospital. The bureau opened an investigation and referred the completed case to the Illinois Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Bureau for prosecution.
The nurse was sentenced to two years of felony probation and 30 hours of community service. The state police release, which also announced a second nurse's sentencing from a separate investigation, does not state the sentencing date or describe any licensing action.