A nurse in Houston, Texas, has been fired from her job following allegations that she stole opioids from an automated dispenser at the hospital, reports Law & Crime. The nurse, Alexis Joann McNeilly, allegedly replaced the drug vials with saline solution and even injected herself with fentanyl while on duty. 

Between March and May 2023, McNielly was accused of diverting hydromorphone and fentanyl from a hospital vending machine for personal use. The incidents were discovered during a routine inventory check by a fellow nurse. The nurse also allegedly tampered with syringes and vials, replacing opioids with saline.

Houston law enforcement received a notification from an FDA agent on May 25 regarding the case. Five days later, the hospital’s pharmacy manager confirmed after an inventory audit that McNeilly

“dispensed medication that was not prescribed by the attending physician”

and put

“adulterated medicine […] in circulation”

that had the

“potential to be administered by other medical professionals to patients, unaware that the medicine had been tampered with.”

In April, surveillance video caught McNeilly injecting herself

“in the hand with the fentanyl syringe before returning to work,”

authorities further alleged.

“I hear voices telling me what to do,”

the defendant allegedly explained, after being confronted by the hospital’s nursing director.

“When the defendant was confronted about this incident, the defendant admitted to taking meds… She explained that she is under extreme personal stress and that she took the meds to help deal with her anxiety,”

documents said.

“The hospital had the defendant take a drug test. The drug test came back positive for Morphine, Hydromorphone, and Marijuana.” 

McNeilly was fired from the hospital and arrested at her home the day after Christmas. She was later released on bond under the conditions that she be electronically monitored, wear a drug patch, and have a curfew that begins at 7 p.m. and ends at 7 a.m. the next day.

#Clique, what are your thoughts?