HelioMetrics Blog

New Hampshire hospital fined $2M in missing fentanyl case

Keene, N.H.-based Cheshire Medical Center will pay $2 million in connection with an incident in which gallons of fentanyl solution were lost or unaccounted for in a four-month period. The investigation began after a nurse stole 23 intravenous bags of fentanyl solution from a dispensing machine, according to a June 21 Justice Department news release. [...]

2023-06-29T14:03:32-05:00June 21st, 2023|Categories: Drug Diversion in the News|

Former NH nurse reaches plea agreement in drug diversion case

A former Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital nurse from Windsor will plead guilty to federal charges she pilfered drugs while working at the Lebanon hospital but will avoid immediate jail time under plea agreement reached with prosecutors. Amy Vickers, 45, will serve two years probation and has agreed to not seek reinstatement of her nursing [...]

2023-06-15T17:32:19-05:00June 15th, 2023|Categories: Drug Diversion in the News|

B.C. nurse disciplined for narcotics theft

B.C.’s College of Nurses and Midwives has disciplined a nurse for diversion of narcotics from their employer for their own use. On May 19, a college inquiry committee panel approved an agreement between the college and a nurse to address January 2021 to June 2022 issues related to narcotic diversion for on-duty, personal use. The nurse was diagnosed with [...]

2023-06-20T15:59:29-05:00May 24th, 2023|Categories: Drug Diversion in the News|

NC nurse who stole surgical patients’ opioid painkillers is going to prison

A former Fuquay-Varina nurse was sentenced Monday to four years in prison and three years of supervised release for tampering with opioid painkillers intended for surgery patients. Melissa Elizabeth Chacona pleaded guilty to the charges in March last year, the federal court of Eastern District of North Carolina announced. Federal indictment documents reviewed by The [...]

2023-06-20T16:11:29-05:00May 22nd, 2023|Categories: Drug Diversion in the News|

UPMC employee charged with stealing patient’s oxycodone

A UPMC employee has been charged after an investigation found him allegedly stealing pills, mainly oxycodone, from patients. Officials with the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General Bureau of Narcotics Drug Control began investigating a possible “drug diversion” involving former UPMC Williamsport employee, Peter Tubbs, 29, of Williamsport. Police say Tubbs was suspected of diverting [...]

2023-06-20T16:23:10-05:00May 17th, 2023|Categories: Drug Diversion in the News|

Butler Memorial Hospital Nurse Accused Of Stealing Pills

A nurse at Butler Memorial Hospital is accused of taking pain medication that was intended for her patients. The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office filed charges earlier this week against D. Shook. She allegedly stole the prescription opioid Dilaudid, which is also known as hydromorphone. The charges come following an internal investigation that started last August [...]

2023-06-20T16:26:41-05:00May 12th, 2023|Categories: Drug Diversion in the News|

Ex-Nurse Avoids Jailtime For Stealing Boston Patients’ Opioids

Lisa Tarr, 33, of St. Petersburg, Fla., was sentenced to five years of probation, with the first year being spent in home detention, the US Attorney for Massachusetts said. Tarr pleaded guilty last year to four counts of unlawfully obtaining controlled substances by fraud, deception, and subterfuge. Tarr was a student nurse at a Boston-area hospital [...]

2023-06-20T16:39:02-05:00May 9th, 2023|Categories: Drug Diversion in the News|

Detroit nurse sentenced to prison for stealing painkillers, replacing it with saline

A Detroit nurse received a four-year prison sentence this week after she was caught stealing painkillers at a hospital where she worked. Mary Cheatham, 42, of Ypsilanti, was caught tampering with vials and syringes containing the painkiller hydromorphone at DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital in 2020. Authorities say she would steal the painkillers for herself and then [...]

2023-06-21T13:42:38-05:00May 3rd, 2023|Categories: Drug Diversion in the News|

North Iowa nurse sentenced for stealing patients’ painkillers

A Clear Lake nurse is going to federal prison for stealing fentanyl from elderly patients. Ryan William Thornton has been ordered to spend nine months behind bars and then serve one year of supervised release.  Thornton pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa to acquiring a controlled substance by misrepresentation, [...]

2023-06-21T15:41:29-05:00April 27th, 2023|Categories: Drug Diversion in the News|
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