A nurse practitioner was employed by a medical organization that operated multiple facilities in Idaho. Each facility kept controlled substances in a locked cabinet, and the practitioner was not authorized to access those cabinets. According to court records, on at least seven occasions the practitioner nonetheless accessed cabinets at different facilities and removed bottles of Schedule II controlled substances, including hydrocodone.
The practitioner removed the hydrocodone tablets, replaced them with a muscle relaxant, resealed the bottles and put them back. In one example from October 31, 2017, a bottle of hydrocodone/APAP 10mg/325mg containing 20 tablets was emptied and refilled with the substitute drug. The practitioner moved the altered bottles to the back of the pack, which delayed discovery. Because the labels no longer matched the contents, the drugs were considered misbranded under federal law.
On two occasions the practitioner also forged prescriptions to themself using another provider's information. In one instance on October 26, 2017 a forged hydrocodone prescription was filled in Meridian for 30 tablets. The other provider had never treated the practitioner and had not authorized the prescription.
A federal grand jury indicted the practitioner on January 9, 2018, and the practitioner pleaded guilty on March 13, 2018 to obtaining controlled substances by fraud, identity theft and misbranding a drug held for sale. The case was investigated by a DEA-led Tactical Diversion Squad, the Ada County Sheriff's Office and the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations. Sentencing was scheduled for June 5, 2018 in federal court in Boise. The Idaho Board of Nursing's published summary of board actions lists revocation of an RN license and a nurse practitioner license for a licensee of the same name on November 16, 2018.