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A Parker nurse has pled guilty to stealing drugs from the Lone Tree endoscopy clinic where she worked, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Denver.
Prosecutors said Mary Panza, also known as Mary Bowers, pled guilty Tuesday to obtaining a controlled substance by deceit.
According to prosecutors, on August 3, Panza was found unconscious on the floor of her bathroom with a syringe in her right hand. First responders administered Narcan to revive her, and determined she had taken fentanyl. Officers found six vials of Benadryl and one vial of Promethazine in her purse, which she used to hide the fentanyl. They also found multiple syringes and a rubber tourniquet in her bathroom.
When she arrived at the hospital, officers found multiple vials of fentanyl in her bathrobe. They determined she had gotten the painkiller from Ridge View Endoscopy Center, where she was in charge of tracking the drug. She would empty wasted medication into vials labeled with the names of other drugs, according to prosecutors. She did this about once a week for 10 months. She also admitted to doing the same thing at her prior employer, Denver Endoscopy, on a handful of occasions.
Panza will be sentenced on March 26.