What are the inner demons that Colorado hospitals are having to fight ?
A frightening outbreak of hepatitis C linked to a hospital surgical tech who stole patients’ painkillers and left behind her dirty syringes is already among the worst cases of its kind in the country. But the theft of powerful drugs by hospital staff isn’t that rare, occurring more than 100 times in the past 3 1/2 years at 22 Colorado hospitals, according to a Denver Post review of state health department records. And the latest Colorado case, threatening 5,700 patients, may force new prevention methods on a system periodically beleaguered by drug theft by an employee. Among the incidents: • In April, an employee of Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree was found dead at home, with numerous hospital syringes scattered throughout the apartment. The worker’s death followed patient complaints they were not receiving medication, and the hospital determined it was missing two doses of the painkiller Dilaudid. • In May 2008, a Denver Health Medical Center employee was fired on suspicion of s
It’s not that rare for health care workers to steal drugs. The hardest ones to stop are addicts who don’t care who gets hurt. By Jennifer Brown and Michael Booth The Denver Post A frightening outbreak of hepatitis C linked to a hospital surgical tech who stole patients’ painkillers and left behind her dirty syringes is already among the worst cases of its kind in the country. But the theft of powerful drugs by hospital staff isn’t that rare, occurring more than 100 times in the past 3 1/2 years at 22 Colorado hospitals, according to a Denver Post review of state health department records. And the latest Colorado case, threatening 5,700 patients, may force new prevention methods on a system periodically beleaguered by drug theft by an employee. Sources: http://www.denverpost.
