Local police and state regulators are investigating a surgical nurse who admitted to stealing fentanyl and replacing it with saline solution at Boulder Community Hospital in Colorado. Hospital administrators immediately fired the nurse upon the discovery in late October, reports the Denver Post, and the hospital has sent notices to more than 200 surgical patients who may have been affected by the drug tampering, which occurred between Sept. 24 and Oct. 17.
The Post reports that an anethesiologist at the hospital was the first to notice that patients were not responding properly to the pain medication during surgery. The anesthesiologist brought his concerns to hospital administrators, who were able to identify the source of the problem because the facility’s drug storage units use individualized codes to track employee access. According to Boulder Police Department spokeswoman Sarah Huntley, the nurse did not remove the vials from the storage units, but did replace the stolen fentanyl with saline solution.
Both Ms. Huntley and hospital spokesman Rich Sheehan tell the Post that patients would not have felt discomfort during surgery, despite the drug tampering, because the anesthesia team closely monitors patients’ reactions to painkillers and adjusts doses accordingly. Still, in a letter to patients, the hospital’s anesthesia department chairman warned of "an extremely small risk" of developing a bloodstream infection caused by the saline solution.
Mr. Sheehan says the hospital’s pharmacy will begin monitoring drug usage more closely and flagging and investigating unusual patterns to prevent and catch any future tampering attempts.
Meanwhile, police are investigating the incident as a felony theft, and the state’s Board of Nursing has launched its own investigation to determine whether the nurse will have his license revoked, the Post reports.
—Irene Tsikitas
