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Andrea Gosiewski
ASHLEY — Authorities charged a local hospice nurse Wednesday based on accusations she stole powerful pain medication from a dying cancer patient and investigators say they discovered a suspected methamphetamine lab when they showed up at her Ashley home to arrest her.
Andrea Gosiewski told authorities she swiped the medication because no medicine could save the man from his impending death and she had a sore neck, according to charges filed by narcotics officers for the state Attorney General’s office.
Gosiewski was arraigned Wednesday afternoon in Kingston by Magisterial District Paul Roberts, who ordered the 39-year-old jailed in the Luzerne County Correctional Facility in lieu of $100,000 cash bail.
Meanwhile, crews were on the scene of what they described as a suspected methamphetamine lab at 25 Preston St. in Ashley, which is owned by Gosiewski and where she was taken into custody.
Gosiewski is charged with unlawfully obtaining a controlled substance, theft, receiving stolen property and falsifying medical records. Charges for the suspected meth lab are pending the result of the investigation, authorities said.
Investigators say they uncovered the medication theft after police found Gosiewski passed out Monday in a vehicle outside Rite-Aid in Edwardsville with a bag of liquid hydromorphone on her lap and a used syringe on the floor.
The powerful opioid, used to treat extreme pain, was prescribed to the patient in Gosiewski’s care, authorities said.
An investigation revealed Gosiewski stole the patient’s medication at least five times while working for Erwine Home Health Care and Hospice, authorities said.
She used the drug to get high herself, police say, but claimed in the patient’s medical records that she discarded the leftover medication, which is described as extremely strong and highly addictive.
Erwine Home Health Care issued a statement late Wednesday indicating it had terminated Gosiewski.
“Law enforcement has advised us that a registered nurse was arrested for controlled substances violations. Erwine Home Health and Hospice has terminated the registered nurse’s employment, instituted our own internal review and will continue to work with law enforcement concerning this matter. As this is both a law enforcement and personnel matter, no further information can be shared at this time,” according to the statement.
Gosiewski has been a registered nurse in Pennsylvania since December 2003, according to records from the Pennsylvania Department of State.
She last renewed her license in April 2015. As of Wednesday afternoon, her license remained active.
Investigators from the Attorney General’s office say Gosiewski admitted to stealing the pain medication from the patient.
She told investigators the patient “has terminal leukemia and is in decline,” arrest papers say.
“In her belief, there is no medicine that will ‘save’ him,” investigators wrote in the criminal complaint. “R.N. Gosiewski stated that she needed the medicine because she has a sore back and neck.”
Eric Mark, staff writer, contributed to this report
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