Just today, I read about Shore Medical Center in Somers Point, NJ that had a drug diversion issue with a former pharmacist. According to the article (read full article here), “A former pharmacist at the hospital allegedly tampered with the drugs by replacing morphine with saline solution in vials that were administered to patients.” It appears that the former employee also did this with hydromorphone.
What is most concerning about this episode is not only did the patients not receive their pain medication, and therefore, they were probably experiencing unnecessary pain, but there is a chance they were also exposed to HIV or hepatitis B or C.
The article calls this drug tampering, but call it what you want, it is drug diversion. Questions remain – was this pharmacist taking these pain meds while working? Did this former employee mess up anyone medication while they themselves were under the influence?
Yes, this pharmacist put the hospital at risk (read about risks from drug diversion). But the best take away from the article, for hospitals or anyone that has to deliver bad news, is at the bottom from a person that received the “letter”. “A phone call would have been nicer than this,” said Polmonari, who tested negative for the diseases. “You know, to soften the blow a little, make people not feel so hysterical about it.” Hospitals need to be seen as a place of compassion, and from this individuals point of view, the letter was cold, leaving the hospital at risk for losing her as a customer. When you have to deliver bad news, be brave and pick up the phone. Show some compassion for these people that might have contracted a life threating illness while under hospital care due to no fault of their own.
In the end, hospitals know that drug diversion is happening everywhere and need to have in place full time diversion investigators and enable them with the tools necessary to get a better handle on these types of events before they become completely out of control and harm the innocent.