Emilee Kathryn Poteat, 32, of Danville, Virginia, was sentenced to 54 months in prison for tampering with a consumer product. According to court documents, from July to November 2020, Poteat — a registered nurse — was employed as a contract nurse in the Clinical Pre/Post Procedure Unit (CPPU) at Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center (NHFMC) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In that capacity Poteat was authorized to access the Pyxes machine located in the CPPU of NHFMC for the purpose of dispensing controlled substances, including injectable Hydromorphone, to patients at the direction of prescribing doctors.
From July 2020 through November 2020, Poteat opened container packages containing vials of injectable Hydromorphone that were stored in the Pyxes machine located in the CPPU at NHFMC. She then removed the vials from those container packages and opened the vials for the purpose of converting and consuming the Hydromorphone by injecting the drug into herself. After removing and converting injectable Hydromorphone, Poteat injected saline solution into the vials so as to conceal her conversion of the drugs and replaced the lids of the vials with glue. Poteat then placed the tampered-with vials which were filled with saline solution into the opened container packages, closed and re-sealed the container packages, and then left those container packages in the locked and secured Pyxes machine. Poteat was ordered to pay a $3,000 fine and will face three years of supervised release in addition to her 4-1/2-year prison sentence.
