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A Greensburg registered nurse was arrested Tuesday for allegedly diverting prescription medication while she worked at Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital, according to court papers.
J. D. Zetkulic, 43, is accused by the state Attorney General’s Office of taking narcotic pain relievers from the hospital’s pharmacy over a four-month period. She is free on $20,000 unsecured bond on two counts of acquisition by misrepresentation.
Agents were notified by hospital officials that they became suspicious Zetkulic was diverting prescription medication after a review of her dispensing activity between December 2017 and March 2018, according to court documents. Authorities said amounts of three medications were unaccounted for: hydromorphone and fentanyl, which are both pain relievers, and lorazepam, which can be used to treat seizures and anxiety.
Zetkulic told hospital officials she sometimes diverted medications requested for patients or kept other narcotics that a patient ended up not taking without documenting it as waste, police reported. Medication was not withheld from patients.
A message left for her attorney was not immediately returned. Zetkulic’s license was issued in 2010 and is set to expire in October, according to state records. She no longer works at the hospital.
A Jan. 31 preliminary hearing is set.