An anesthesiologist at a Missouri hospital pleaded guilty in federal court on April 25, 2024, to illegally taking fentanyl from the hospital. He waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty to a federal information that charges him with one count of obtaining a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception, or subterfuge.
The defendant admitted that he illegally obtained fentanyl from the hospital on Nov. 5, 2022. He had misrepresented that the fentanyl was for a patient, when in reality, that patient had been discharged from the hospital earlier that day. Fentanyl was not listed under the “medication orders” on the patient’s chart for the hospital visit. The defendant also admitted to withdrawing fentanyl from three vials from Sept. 1, 2022, through Nov. 30, 2022.
On Feb. 16, 2023, personnel from the hospital reported to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that three vials of fentanyl in an automated dispensing cabinet showed signs of tampering. In March 2023 seven vials of fentanyl that were suspected of being tampered with were sent to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Forensic Chemistry Center where tests were performed on the vials and their contents. Of the seven vials, three showed evidence of being tampered with. One of those vials contained no fentanyl and the other two vials contained a small amount of fentanyl.
Under federal statutes, the defendant is subject to a sentence of up to four years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
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 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.*
