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DES MOINES, Iowa —
A pharmacy tech claims he watered down the opioid prescriptions of hospital patients and stole the powerful painkillers.
The incident happened at Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines.
Over the course of six weeks, 731 people may have been given the watered-down drugs.
Instead of patients receiving a prescribed painkiller called fentanyl, a drug 50 times more potent than heroin, as many as 731 people could have received nothing more than salt water.
Methodist Medical Center officials said the pharmacy tech had legitimate access to portable medication carts that are placed throughout the hospital where the fentanyl was stored.
Between August 26 and October 7, he allegedly used a syringe to replace the fentanyl with saline in 252 vials.
Methodist officials said they are not sure where the pharmacy tech got the syringe and is now offering free HIV tests for anyone who is affected, though hospital officials said there is no risk and are only offering the test as a precaution.
Some concerned patients are already calling attorneys.
“Anytime you have an action by a licensed professional, a nurse, physician… that’s professional negligence or medical malpractice,” said Russ Hixson of Hixson and Brown Law Firm.
Hixson said he has received calls from people over the last few weeks regarding the incident.
His most recent call was Wednesday morning.
“We’ve not gotten to the point where we’ve requested medical records or anything,” Hixson said. “I think they’re getting this news for the first time and so they’re trying to find out how to deal with it.”
Officials with Methodist Medical Center told KCCI the pharmacy tech no longer works there.
No charges have been filed at this point but are expected to be.
Look for updates on this developing story on the KCCI mobile app, KCCI-TV and kcci.com.