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ELDORA, Iowa —
Officials with Eldora Emergency Medical Services confirmed to KCCI Tuesday that an investigation is underway after some of its pain medication was tampered with prior to being administered to patients.
According to a press release from Eldora EMS, the group’s supply of Dilaudid, an opioid pain medication, may have been partially removed with a syringe and replaced with another substance prior to being given to patients.
Eldora EMS officials said it is likely someone replaced the stolen pain medication with saline.
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation confirmed to KCCI that a federal investigation is underway.
Officials with Eldora EMS said they have no reason to believe patients were “exposed to any risks”, but they are offering free blood testing to patients who may have received the watered-down medication.
Eldora EMS said it is working closely with law enforcement to determine who stole the drugs.
The case is not the first of its kind in central Iowa.
In October, KCCI reported a case in Des Moines where as many as 731 patients of Methodist Medical Center received salt water instead of fentanyl in a drug-switching case.
Over 100 patients filed lawsuits against the hospital in February.
An addendum released in May by the Iowa Board of Pharmacy identified Victor Van Cleave as the former pharmacy technician who admitted to watering down the opioid prescriptions in that case.