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PITTSBURGH —
A worker at Jefferson Regional Medical Center stole large quantities of oxycodone and switched them with other types of pills, which were then given to patients instead of the powerful painkillers that they needed, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.
The suit claims that a pharmacy technician substituted similar-looking thyroid and anti-nausea medications for the narcotic pain pills.
“It is unclear precisely how long this was going on, but it was at least several months, possibly affecting hundreds of patients,” said a statement from the SPK law firm. “What is certain is that the pills they got weren’t painkillers, and that these patients in serious pain stayed in serious pain.”
The alleged pill substitution was discovered after a patient’s daughter realized that her mother had not really been given oxycodone, SPK said.
Jefferson Regional Medical Center has not yet issued a public response to the lawsuit, which was filed in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court on behalf of 16 patients or their survivors.