4th Nurse Accused Of Stealing Meds From SMC

foolsgold

foolsgold

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Story Published: Jun 7, 2013 at 1:52 PM EDT
Story Updated: Jun 7, 2013 at 3:45 PM EDT
A fourth nurse at Watertown's Samaritan Medical Center is accused of stealing prescription drugs.

State police arrested 32 year old Carson Fanning of 434 Falls Road in Richland.

He was charged Thursday with a felony count of first-degree falsifying business records.

Fanning was also charged with "manufacture, sell, possess prescription controlled substance," which is a violation of a public health law.

He was working as a registered nurse at SMC when he allegedly dispensed the painkillers morphine and Percocet as well as the anti-anxiety drug Valium without a doctor's order.

The alleged thefts occurred between December 9, 2012 and March 11, 2013.

Fanning was issued a ticket to appear in Watertown City Court on June 13.

He is the fourth SMC nurse to be arrested for allegedly stealing prescription drugs.

On Wednesday, state police arrested 52 year old Patricia Shea of 1030 Arsenal Street in Watertown.

Earlier in the week, police announced the arrests of 41 year old Heather Graham of Ithaca and 46 year old Dawn Harrison of Dolgeville, New York.

Shea, Graham and Harrison were all traveling nurses who worked in SMC's emergency department.

Police said the four arrests do not appear to be linked.
SMC has called a news conference for 1:30 p.m. Monday to discuss the arrests.

http://www.wwnytv.com/news/local/4th-Nurse-Accused-Of-Stealing-Meds-From-SMC-210600361.html
 
either these people are extremely stupid or extremely desperate

they work as nurses so i doubt theyre stupid, but how is stealing pills from your job safer than copping off the street

anyways dont give a fuck about whats coming to them, if theyre addicted to opiates im guessing they shouldnt be working in the medical field
 
What makes them different top any other addict? They should be offered treatment either abstinent based or substitutiive. There are plently of addicts in health care positions and imo they should be treated as we would all like to be treated.
 
Doody OD said:
What makes them different top any other addict? They should be offered treatment either abstinent based or substitutiive. There are plently of addicts in health care positions and imo they should be treated as we would all like to be treated.
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no they deserve jail
do you want someone dope sick or in a drug/alcohol fog sewing up your stitches or making life or death decisions for you?

had to include alcohol cuz i know if i dont half of you will want to jump on me for it

if youre addicted you arent responsible for yourself and shouldnt be responsible for others
 
If only you knew how many drug addicts care for you or put people to sleep on the operating table everyday, you wouldn’t be saying this...

It’s a big enough number that you would be amazed...

When you look at the scheme of things, addicts are very purposeful to our society wether we like it or not.

Just like money, cars, clothes and food, drugs are something to be productive for. It’s gives a lot of people shit to look forward to on a daily basis.




Now on the flip side, I wouldn’t want to be the poor bastard on the operating table with a person who has been “cut off” from their drug of choice...

If they are unhappy, then dammit you will definitely feel unhappy...
 
He was working as a registered nurse at SMC when he allegedly dispensed the painkillers morphine and Percocet as well as the anti-anxiety drug Valium without a doctor's order.
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The wording in the article is that he dispensed the drugs, which could mean he actually gave them to patients rather than stealing them for personal use. He could have been doing what he considered to be the right thing. Or he could have been selling them. But "dispensed" sounds like the nurse was trying to help the patient when a doctor refused to or was not available. The article is not very clear on the details. I would assume that all healthcare workers are subject to drug testing (probably excluding Dr's because they're too valuable.)
 
!_MDMA_! said:
no they deserve jail
do you want someone dope sick or in a drug/alcohol fog sewing up your stitches or making life or death decisions for you?

had to include alcohol cuz i know if i dont half of you will want to jump on me for it

if youre addicted you arent responsible for yourself and shouldnt be responsible for others
Click to expand...



Not in my opinion, out of interest do you use?

A lot of people here claim that they want addiction treated as a public health concern not a criminal one. I concur, if we want non-medical addicted to be treated with respect, well they should also treat those who work alongside them with respect.

You will note that I stated they should be offered treatment, whichever type suits them. I know some on MMT and working. I did not state they should be allowed to work whilst they are out of their cake, there is a difference.

Believe me there are a lot of people in the health care sector using, for many different reasons, if it become a problem then it needs to be addressed through treatment not jail, they same as I would hope for any addict.
 
Psychedelic Jay said:
If only you knew how many drug addicts care for you or put people to sleep on the operating table everyday, you wouldn’t be saying this...

It’s a big enough number that you would be amazed...

When you look at the scheme of things, addicts are very purposeful to our society wether we like it or not.

Just like money, cars, clothes and food, drugs are something to be productive for. It’s gives a lot of people shit to look forward to on a daily basis.




Now on the flip side, I wouldn’t want to be the poor bastard on the operating table with a person who has been “cut off” from their drug of choice...

If they are unhappy, then dammit you will definitely feel unhappy...
Click to expand...

you dont know how many substance abusers there are also, show me some credible statistics

Doody OD said:
Not in my opinion, out of interest do you use?

A lot of people here claim that they want addiction treated as a public health concern not a criminal one. I concur, if we want non-medical addicted to be treated with respect, well they should also treat those who work alongside them with respect.

You will note that I stated they should be offered treatment, whichever type suits them. I know some on MMT and working. I did not state they should be allowed to work whilst they are out of their cake, there is a difference.

Believe me there are a lot of people in the health care sector using, for many different reasons, if it become a problem then it needs to be addressed through treatment not jail, they same as I would hope for any addict.
Click to expand...

no i dont use and i dont oppose addiction being treated by healthcare professionals

idgaf if you're high as fuck serving mcdonalds or writing computer programs, but you shouldnt be high working as a healthcare worker or building airplane parts

some jobs you can do high and others you cannot
 
That is why I repeatly stress treatment, health care professions are in a very difficult position when they seek help.

If treated they can continue to work in a professional manner whether that treatment is recovery based or MMT or similar. I am certain not condoning people been stoned whilst treating others, but if engaged in treatment, why not?

Some people argue than such professional are at risk of addiction due to the nature of their profession, I am not sure on that; however, we do need better support for health care workers who become addicted. In certain places people can risk their career by seeking help, this should never happen, people should not be punished for seeking help. That why I can't agree with the lock them up.

I personally know someone who struggled for 18 months trying to overcome an addiction by themselves, there was in theory plently of support. So why did they not seek it, they knew that in order to get the help it would negatively affect their career. They where correct, they had to seek help in work and it did effect their career negatively.

This should not happen, if health care professional cannot treat the people they work along side with on a daily basis with respect; how can they treat other addicts respectfully? Until people can seek treatment without fear of it effecting the career it will remain a problem. Addiction treatment are supposed to be a bridge back to normal living, but that bridge needs to be accessible.
 
!_MDMA_! said:
you dont know how many substance abusers there are also, show me some credible statistics...
Click to expand...


http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/02/25/physicians-with-substance-abuse-issues/4339.html

Now based on this “taste”, hundreds that went to this one 6 year study, what possibly makes you think there are not hundreds more?
There possibly are hundreds more hidden in the same area.

There can’t be even a rough number because just like every other field of work it grows and shrinks...

Doctors are damn near number on offenders of prescription drug abuse... They have a whole plethora that we can’t access on a "good day."

I’ll post more as time progresses...
 
I have been a nurse for 30 years and have spent most of my career working in ICU's and ER's. I have had the unfortunate opportunity of seeing several very talented, top notch RN's become addicted to the drugs used to alleviate pain in their patients. Not one set out to become drug addicts. Many suffered from back injuries from lifting our ever "growing" population of obese patients who won't assist in moving themselves. Contrary to what the general public might think, it is very easy to obtain opiate pain meds in a hospital without diverting medication from a patient who needs it. A dosage of Dilaudid or Morphine is ordered by a physician, the nurse gives the prescribed dose and most times there is leftover or "waste" medication to be thrown away. If your back is hurting and you're working your third 12hour shift in a row, it's easy to use that "waste" to relieve your own pain! Being short staffed, it's nearly impossible to leave during your shift like a normal desk job. Not saying it's right, because it definitely is NOT, but shit happens. It becomes a problem when it's done repeatedly and they become addicted. THEN the patient may not be getting their dose, or just half! Anesthesiologists, CRNAs and Pharmacists are guilty also. This is a true Occupational hazard and treatment in lieu of firing should be the answer (or health care workers can just leave and get a job at another facility-taking the problem with them. I've seen this in many cases).
 
I have been a nurse for 30 years and have spent most of my career working in ICU's and ER's. I have had the unfortunate opportunity of seeing several very talented, top notch RN's become addicted to the drugs used to alleviate pain in their patients. Not one set out to become drug addicts. Many suffered from back injuries from lifting our ever "growing" population of obese patients who won't assist in moving themselves. Contrary to what the general public might think, it is very easy to obtain opiate pain meds in a hospital without diverting medication from a patient who needs it. A dosage of Dilaudid or Morphine is ordered by a physician, the nurse gives the prescribed dose and most times there is leftover or "waste" medication to be thrown away. If your back is hurting and you're working your third 12hour shift in a row, it's easy to use that "waste" to relieve your own pain! Being short staffed, it's nearly impossible to leave during your shift like a normal desk job. Not saying it's right, because it definitely is NOT, but shit happens. It becomes a problem when it's done repeatedly and they become addicted. THEN the patient may not be getting their dose, or just half! Anesthesiologists, CRNAs and Pharmacists are guilty also. This is a true Occupational hazard and treatment in lieu of firing should be the answer (or health care workers can just leave and get a job at another facility-taking the problem with them. I've seen this in many cases).
 
For the most part I don't disagree with ya, but

!_MDMA_! said:
if theyre addicted to opiates im guessing they shouldnt be working in the medical field
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Founder johns hopkins medical school used morphine pretty much everyday until his death and he is one of the great docs of all time. just sayn
 
!_MDMA_! said:
no they deserve jail

if youre addicted you arent responsible for yourself and shouldnt be responsible for others
Click to expand...

Didn't expect this kind of reaction from a BLer, Jail? because locking a person in a cage is going to be beneficial in what way?

Having a substance dependency doesn't mean you are not responsible for yourself. Taking opiate medications as prescribed for a medical condition for anything but a short time will lead to dependence, does this mean people in this situation are irresponsible and should lose their jobs?
 
Stealing opioids needed by others is worthwhile of sanctions though, but still not some crazy prison term of even a felony conviction. Alas, we don't live in such a world were reasonable men and women do reasonable things, or at least when it comes to those with any clout or authority.
 
To play the devils advocate here, it would be different if they were caught buying, selling or using on the job but they STOLE what amounts to essential supplies from their workplaces, so yeah maybe jail time is warranted. Would you merely suggest treatment if you happened to run a small business and an employee ripped you off to buy drugs? Or if your families home was broken into and ransacked? Being an addict is not excuse or a free pass to commit other crimes, even if it was to support a habit. I'm sure there's plenty of functioning addicts who would resort to a ton of other things before theft.
 
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