A former nurse was sentenced to three months in prison and one year of supervised release for diverting opioids from a Boston-area hospital, according to a November 15, 2023, press release from the Massachusetts US Attorney’s Office. In August 2023, the defendant pleaded guilty to three counts of unlawfully obtaining controlled substances by fraud, deception, and subterfuge.
Beginning in May 2019, the defendant used her capacity as a nurse in the emergency department at a Massachusetts hospital to withdraw controlled substances from a locked drug cabinet. These substances included morphine, fentanyl, and hydromorphone, all of which are opioids and Schedule II controlled substances. In total, she withdrew these substances 412 times for 299 already discharged patients over an approximately five-month period.
Negative drug tests uncovered during the investigation indicated that the defendant did not self-administer the drugs that she stole from the hospital at which she was employed, despite stating otherwise to her employer and the Board of Registration in Nursing. In statements to the Board, the defendant attempted to minimize her conduct by calling her theft of controlled substances an “isolated incident,” which it was not.
“The DEA is committed to ensuring the Controlled Substances Act is followed,” said Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Office. “Stealing drugs like opioids from hospitals’ controlled environments jeopardizes public health and public safety. DEA pledges to work with our law enforcement partners in Massachusetts to ensure these rules and regulations are followed by all.”
Compliance Perspective
Issue
Failure to prevent diversion of residents’ prescribed controlled medications by staff who sell or take the drugs for their personal use may be considered abuse, neglect, misappropriation, and fraud, in violation of state and federal regulations. Staff who divert medications have developed a number of ways to conceal diversion. Facilities should implement a proactive diversion-prevention program which identifies the types of medications most likely to be taken, signs that diversion has taken place, and signs of impairment.
Discussion Points
- Review your policies and procedures on preventing, identifying, and responding to drug diversion. Update as needed.
- Train appropriate staff on actions that can be taken to prevent, identify, and respond to any suspicion of drug diversion. Provide education on the impact of drug diversion on residents as a form of abuse and neglect, staff responsibility to report concerns immediately, and the consequences of theft of controlled substances. Document that the trainings occurred, and place the signed document in each employee’s education file. Med-Net Academy offers all clients three PowerPoint training programs in our new category of Substance Use. Visit MNA to access all three. Additionally, in the Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Category of MNA, a program titled Drug Diversion: What Every Facility Needs to Know is available for viewing by all clients.
- Periodically audit to ensure that all controlled substances are accounted for on each shift, and that proper documentation of controlled substances has occurred. Your consultant pharmacist can be included in this effort.
*This news alert has been prepared by Med-Net Concepts, LLC for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice.*
