Hospice nurse stole pain medications meant for patients at Minnesota clinic, feds say

While working as a registered nurse case manager at a hospice clinic in Minnesota, a woman stole prescription pain medications meant for patients, authorities said.

Now, the 33-year-old woman has been indicted in federal court, according to an Oct. 18 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota. She is charged with obtaining a controlled substance by fraud.

Her defense attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on Oct. 20.

Authorities said the nurse stole oxycodone, hydromorphone and fentanyl from the Baxter clinic between November 2020 and November 2022.

She stole the opioids by entering fake prescription requests into the clinic’s e-prescribing software, according to the indictment. Authorities said she both used and sold the stolen painkillers.

Nurse case managers are registered nurses tasked with developing, implementing and reviewing patient health care plans, according to Western Governors University.

As many as 15% of medical workers will abuse drugs or alcohol during their career, according to the American Addiction Centers.

“Doctors and nurses are more likely to abuse prescription medications, with very high rates of abuse frequently seen with opioid narcotics such as fentanyl,” the AAC said.

Baxter is about 125 miles northwest of Minneapolis.

The US opioid crisis

Overdoses are a leading cause of injury-related death in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 2021, there were nearly 51,000 overdose deaths in the country, according to CDC data. In the past 21 years, drug overdoses have killed more than 932,000 people, the CDC reported.

“The majority of overdose deaths involve opioids. Deaths involving synthetic opioids (largely illicitly made fentanyl) and stimulants (such as cocaine and methamphetamine) have increased in recent years,” the CDC said. “For every drug overdose that results in death, there are many more nonfatal overdoses, each one with its own emotional and economic toll.”

Millions of people in the U.S. have an opioid addiction, according to the CDC. Addiction is a “chronic and relapsing disease that can affect anyone.”

This story was originally published October 20, 2023 at 8:11 AM with the headline "Hospice nurse stole pain medications meant for patients at Minnesota clinic, feds say."