Drug Diversion Case Studies

Las Vegas nurse sentenced for illegally prescribing hydrocodone and oxycodone in a cash-for-prescriptions scheme

Las Vegas, NV

A nurse practicing in Las Vegas pleaded guilty to eight counts of distribution of a controlled substance and eight counts of health care fraud, the Department of Justice announced, and was sentenced to more than six years in federal prison. From January to around May 2018, the nurse arranged with a surgical technician and a physician to give hydrocodone and oxycodone to patients without a legitimate medical purpose in exchange for cash, and wrote illegal prescriptions without a medical purpose. Between July 2016 and December 2017, the nurse also wrote prescriptions for lidocaine, modafinil and diclofenac sodium without examining the patient and billed Medicare and Medicaid; the prescriptions were filled at Atlas Pharmacy, which paid roughly $30,000 in exchange for referrals. The nurse was sentenced in May 2019, will serve three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $3,749,121 in restitution.

Utah County sheriff's evidence technician charged with taking drugs slated for destruction

A former forensic technician with the Utah County Sheriff's Office was charged in May 2019 with stealing drugs that were supposed to be destroyed. The charges, filed in 4th District Court, were three class A misdemeanor counts of possession of hydrocodone or OxyContin and three class B misdemeanor counts of theft. The charges are allegations, and the available report does not describe a resolution.

Morgantown pharmacist sentenced to 121 months for distributing oxycodone outside professional practice

A Morgantown, West Virginia pharmacist pleaded guilty in May 2019 to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances outside the bounds of professional medical practice and to filing a false tax return, and was later sentenced to 121 months in federal prison. The pharmacist admitted to conspiring with others to distribute more than 7,400 grams of oxycodone in Monongalia County and elsewhere between August 2014 and August 2018. The court ordered $507,942.42 in restitution to the IRS and former employees and entered a money judgment of $1,845,000, and under the plea agreement the pharmacist agreed to give up the pharmacy license and not seek reinstatement.

Lewiston pharmacy technician sentenced to 54 months after stealing nearly 60,000 pills from employer

A pharmacy technician at a Lewiston pharmacy was sentenced in federal court to 54 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. According to court records, the technician began stealing prescription controlled substances in August 2017 and took almost 60,000 pills over roughly eleven months before being arrested, including over 45,000 hydrocodone pills. Many of the pills were distributed to others who sold them locally, and the court ordered restitution of over $30,000 to the pharmacy.

Rhode Island VA Nurse Sentenced Over Liquid Opioid Tampering

Providence, Rhode Island

A Veterans Affairs Medical Center nurse in Providence was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for tampering with and fraudulently obtaining morphine and other opioid prescriptions meant for patients, admitting he removed vials of liquid opioids from a locked storage cart and left behind vials filled with saline.

Hilo clinic physician and employees accused of unlawfully distributing opioids

Hilo, HI

At a medical clinic in Hilo, a physician and four employees were arrested and accused of prescribing and unlawfully distributing powerful narcotics, sedatives and opioids, including hydrocodone, oxycodone, fentanyl and morphine. They are scheduled to stand trial in U.S. District Court in June.

Colorado Pharmacist Sentenced in Opioid Diversion Case (2019)

Colorado

Owner-operator of St. Vrain Pharmacy in Lyons was convicted of illegal distribution of narcotics (OxyContin and amphetamine sold without prescription) and sentenced to six months in federal prison, a $20,000 forfeiture and $55,000 community restitution.

Missouri Pharmacy Technician Sentenced in Controlled Substance Diversion Case (2019)

Missouri

A former Mercy Hospital pharmacy technician in Springfield, Mo. was sentenced in federal court to three years in prison for tampering with a consumer product after admitting he diluted morphine and fentanyl syringes he loaded.

Kansas Pharmacist Sentenced in Controlled Substance Diversion Case (2019)

Kansas

A Salina pharmacist who worked at CVS pleaded guilty to distributing about 21,289 hydrocodone/acetaminophen tablets outside the usual course of professional practice and received 36 months of probation including 18 months of house arrest; under her plea agreement she agreed to surrender her pharmacist license.

Kentucky Pharmacist Convicted in Controlled Substance Diversion Case (2019)

Kentucky

Williamsburg pharmacist Kimberly Jones was convicted by a federal jury in London, Ky. (release dated Feb. 11, 2019) on seven counts of unlawful distribution of controlled substances. No sentence is stated.

California Physician Sentenced in Opioid Diversion Case (2019)

California

South Bay doctor Venkat Aachi was sentenced Oct. 21, 2019 to 24 months in prison for health care fraud and for distributing hydrocodone outside the scope of professional practice and without a legitimate medical need.

Missouri Prescriber Convicted in Opioid Diversion Case (2019)

Missouri

Dentist Bradley A. Seyer, 53, of Florissant, Mo., pleaded guilty June 26, 2019 to making false statements to Medicare and illegally distributing hydrocodone without a legitimate medical purpose; sentencing was set for Sept. 25, 2019.

New York Physician Sentenced in Opioid Diversion Case (2019)

New York

Dr. Paul Biddle, 54, of Amherst, N.Y., convicted of identity theft and possession of unlawful hydromorphone, was sentenced May 13, 2019 to two years probation for using patient names to obtain controlled substances.

Georgia Prescriber Convicted in Opioid Diversion Case (2019)

Georgia

Licensed podiatrist Dr. Arnita Avery-Kelly was found guilty May 9, 2019 on federal charges of illegally prescribing opioid painkillers at clinic locations in Sandy Springs and Lithonia, Georgia. No sentence is stated.

KU Hospital Pharmacy Tech Stole 483 Bags of Fentanyl

Kansas City, Kansas

A pharmacy technician at the University of Kansas Hospital stole fentanyl from the hospital where his duties included stocking automated dispensing cabinets, taking 483 bags of the drug over time. He was sentenced in 2018 to three years of probation, and his pharmacy license was revoked.

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes' Pharmacy Settles Over Missing Oxycodone

St. Ignatius, Montana

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes' Pharmacy on the Flathead Indian Reservation agreed to pay a $95,520 civil penalty after a DEA inspection, prompted by roughly 2,500 oxycodone pills that were stolen or unaccounted for, found the pharmacy had failed to adequately track controlled-substance records and failed to report the missing pills to DEA. The pharmacy also agreed to certify compliance annually for three years or face a judgment of up to $240,640. The settlement was announced November 20, 2018.

Registered nurse alleged to have diverted a controlled substance from a nursing facility in Mukwonago

Mukwonago, WI

A registered nurse was alleged to have diverted a controlled substance from a nursing facility in Mukwonago, Wisconsin, on or around November 7, 2018. The Wisconsin Board of Nursing accepted a stipulation and entered a final decision and order on September 10, 2020, accepting surrender of the nurse's license, barring reinstatement for at least one year, and imposing $632 in costs.

Physician charged with health care fraud and distributing Suboxone without medical necessity through a clinic

Dublin, OH

A federal grand jury charged a Central Ohio physician practicing in Dublin with charges related to a health care fraud scheme and with prescribing and distributing Suboxone without medical necessity. The scheme allegedly included marketing prescription creams in Sav-a-Lot and low-income neighborhoods and persistently mailing those creams to Medicaid customers. The physician was charged in a seven-count indictment and was scheduled for an initial appearance in federal court. The Board of Pharmacy collaborated on the investigation with the Ohio Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, HHS Office of Inspector General, DEA and FBI.

Two South Denver pharmacists pleaded guilty to felony opioid distribution charges

Two pharmacists practicing in south Denver pleaded guilty in federal court to felony charges related to the illegal dispensing and distribution of controlled substances, including opioids. The pleas were announced by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado and the DEA Denver Division in October 2018. The release does not describe the sentences imposed.

Hospital pharmacy technician diverted hydrocodone and oxycodone from a pharmacy vault through fraudulent automated dispensing transactions

A former pharmacy technician at Tripler Army Medical Center was sentenced to 12 months in jail and six years of court supervision after pleading guilty to one count each of possessing with intent to distribute hydrocodone and oxycodone. According to the report, she stole 8,505 pills, each containing 5 milligrams of either painkiller, from the hospital's pharmacy vault between February 2017 and March 2018, using her fingerprint and unique login to conduct 82 fraudulent transactions in the hospital's automated medication distribution and tracking system, which did not require a valid prescription for patients being discharged. The report states she supplied pills to her boyfriend and used some herself, and that she repaid the hospital $1,033 before sentencing.

Las Vegas nurse practitioner and surgical technician pleaded guilty to distributing hydrocodone and oxycodone prescriptions for cash

An advanced practice registered nurse and a surgical technician pleaded guilty in federal court in Las Vegas in October 2018 to unlawfully distributing prescription opioids, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada announced. Investigators said that from about January to May 2018 the two conspired to distribute hydrocodone and oxycodone to people without a legitimate medical purpose in exchange for cash, with the technician meeting buyers in parking lots and handing out prescriptions from the nurse practitioner's pad bearing a physician's pre-signed DEA number. The nurse practitioner also pleaded guilty to health care fraud tied to prescriptions written without a legitimate medical purpose, which the government said cost Medicare and Medicaid approximately $3.7 million.

Arkansas nurse surrenders license after record reviews found controlled-substance diversion at two facilities

Reviews of medical records at an academic medical center in Little Rock and at a second facility uncovered diversion of controlled substances by a nurse, with the diversion dated to around September 2018. The nurse voluntarily surrendered the nursing license, and the matter was reported to the state licensure board.

University of Michigan Health System Pays $4.3M in Record Drug Diversion Settlement

Ann Arbor, Michigan

The University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) agreed to pay the United States $4.3 million, the nation's largest settlement of its kind at the time, to resolve allegations that it violated the Controlled Substances Act. DEA opened its investigation after two UMHS employees — a nurse and an anesthesiology resident — overdosed on opioids, including fentanyl, at a UMHS facility in December 2013, one fatally. The investigation found UMHS failed to secure DEA registrations for 15 off-site ambulatory care locations that received and dispensed narcotics from the main hospital pharmacy, and found significant recordkeeping violations including failing to timely notify DEA of thefts or significant losses of controlled substances. The settlement was announced August 30, 2018.

Pharmacy Technician Diverts Fentanyl at Iowa Methodist Medical Center

Des Moines, Iowa

Between August and October 2016, Victor Van Cleave, a pharmacy technician at Iowa Methodist Medical Center, diverted about 252 vials of fentanyl and 18 vials of hydromorphone meant for patients. He replaced the drugs with sterile water and was sentenced in 2018 to 30 months in federal prison.

Long Island pharmacy chain settled claims it failed to timely report controlled substance losses and thefts

A national retail pharmacy chain agreed to pay $1.5 million to resolve a federal investigation alleging that certain of its Long Island stores failed to timely report the loss or theft of controlled substances, including hydrocodone, as required by the Controlled Substances Act. The government said timely reporting is required so the DEA can promptly investigate possible diversion. The settlement resolved civil penalty claims and is not a finding of liability.