Diversion Case Studies

UC San Diego anesthesiologist's license revoked after alleged sedative diversion and saline substitution

According to a law-firm blog summarizing news reports and Medical Board of California records, an anesthesiologist at UC San Diego Medical Center had his license revoked in April 2018 following an interim suspension in September 2017. The blog reports that the physician acknowledged a long-term addiction to sedative drugs diverted from hospital supplies and patients, and that he was accused of administering anesthesia while impaired and substituting saline for drugs such as morphine and fentanyl in roughly 800 patient cases. The board accusation reportedly cited dangerous drug use and falsified medical records. The blog cautions that its case facts may be inaccurate.

Meridian nurse practitioner pleaded guilty to swapping hydrocodone in clinic cabinets for muscle relaxants and forging prescriptions

A nurse practitioner employed by a medical organization with multiple facilities in Idaho pleaded guilty in federal court to obtaining controlled substances by fraud, identity theft and misbranding a drug held for sale. According to court records, on at least seven occasions the practitioner accessed locked medication cabinets without authorization, removed bottles of hydrocodone, replaced the pills with a muscle relaxant, resealed the bottles and returned them to the back of the cabinet. The practitioner also forged two prescriptions for hydrocodone using another provider's information. Sentencing was set for June 5, 2018.

Delaware nurse who impersonated a doctor to obtain Xanax lost bid to regain license after permanent revocation

In 2008, a Delaware nurse impersonated a doctor to obtain Xanax for personal use and pleaded guilty to obtaining a controlled substance by misrepresentation or fraud, with the conviction taking effect after the terms of a court diversion program were not met. The Board of Nursing suspended the nurse's licenses in 2011, and after the nurse continued to practice for eight months during the suspension, the Board permanently revoked the licenses. A 2015 gubernatorial pardon of the conviction did not restore eligibility, and the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the Board's denial of new license applications in February 2018.

Delaware nurse who obtained Xanax by impersonating a doctor loses bid to regain license

A Delaware nurse pled guilty to obtaining a controlled substance by misrepresentation or fraud after impersonating a doctor in 2008 to obtain Xanax for personal use. The Board of Nursing suspended her licenses in 2011, and after she worked as a nurse for eight months while the suspension was in effect, the Board permanently revoked them. Following a 2015 gubernatorial pardon of the criminal conviction, she applied for licensure again; the Board denied the applications, and in February 2018 the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed, reasoning that the permanent revocation rested on practicing without a license rather than on the pardoned conviction.

Home-Infusion Pharmacy Tech Diluted Hospice Patients' IV Opioids

Birmingham, Alabama

The lead pharmacy technician at ContinuumRx of Central Alabama prepared the vast majority of the company's IV bags of morphine and hydromorphone for terminally ill hospice and homecare patients in debilitating pain. Between December 2014 and September 2016, he removed the opioids from vials with a syringe, replaced the withdrawn amount with saline or sterile water, and returned the diluted vials to inventory undetected, later using them to compound IV bags that were distributed to hospice patients. He pleaded guilty to tampering with a consumer product and was sentenced on February 21, 2018, to five years in federal prison.

Wyoming hospital nurse sentenced for diluting hydromorphone and meperidine vials

A former registered nurse at a hospital in Douglas, Wyoming, was sentenced in federal court in February 2018 to eight months of imprisonment after pleading guilty to one count of tampering with a consumer product and one count of acquiring a controlled substance by misrepresentation, deception or subterfuge. A September 2017 grand jury indictment alleged that 58 vials of hydromorphone and a container of meperidine were tampered with by removing some or all of the drug and replacing it with saline solution. The sentence also imposed three years of supervised release with home confinement and substance abuse treatment requirements.

Former registered nurse at Memorial Hospital of Converse County sentenced for stealing hydromorphone and meperidine and replacing them with saline

Douglas, WY

A former registered nurse at Memorial Hospital of Converse County in Douglas, Wyoming, was sentenced in federal court in February 2018 for stealing narcotics and diluting patients' narcotics. The former nurse had pleaded guilty in November to one count of tampering with a consumer product and one count of acquiring a controlled substance by misrepresentation, deception or subterfuge. An indictment alleged tampering with 58 vials of hydromorphone (Dilaudid) and one container of meperidine (Demerol) by removing some or all of the drug and replacing it with saline solution. The sentence was two concurrent eight-month prison terms and two concurrent three-year supervised release terms, and the state nursing board suspended the nurse's license.

Former pharmacy-tech trainee at Little Rock VA hospital sentenced to prison for role in opioid theft and sales

A former pharmacy-technician trainee at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Little Rock was sentenced in mid-February 2018 to two and a half years in federal prison. The sentence was for her role in a conspiracy to distribute opioids that a co-worker had stolen from a hospital supplier.