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Iowa Methodist Medical Center has notified even more patients that their pain medication may have been stolen by a pharmacy tech.
Victor Van Cleave was sentenced this past July to 30 months in federal prison.
He pleaded guilty to stealing fentanyl from patients and replacing it with saline.
This happened in 2016. Methodist originally notified 731 patients they could have been affected, but after reviewing more records, they’ve now notified 182 more patients.
Iowa Methodist Medical Center released the following when asked for comment about the story.
“During a recent review of the original group of patients who were notified of a former employee’s actions related to diverting pain medication, we identified discrepancies and worked to determine the full scope of the former employee’s access to medication. In doing so, we identified 182 additional individuals that were in the hospital during the time that this former employee had access to pain medications and may have potentially been affected by his actions. We are calling each of these individuals now to make them aware of this situation.
It is important to note that the former employee voluntarily submitted to lab testing for infectious disease – all of which came back negative. In addition, he only worked 24 total shifts, but we wanted to be as transparent as possible by contacting all patients hospitalized during his employment (August 26 to October 7, 2016).
Although it has been two years, we believe it is the right thing to do to contact these individuals and make sure they are aware of the situation. We deeply regret the actions of this former employee and apologize for any uncertainty or anxiety this may cause for patients and their families that put their trust in us. Please know our first priority is always the health, safety and privacy of our patients.”