Published on behalf of August 20, 2012
Last week, two nurses from North Country, New York were charged in separate cases of fraudulently obtaining prescription drugs. One nurse is accused of forging prescriptions to obtain over 1,500 narcotic pain pills from 16 local pharmacies. The other is charged with using her employer hospital’s pharmacy database system to fraudulently obtain narcotic pain medication.
Hospital nurses who criminally obtain prescription medications either for personal use or to sell to others can subject their hospital employers to civil liability. By the time an employee resorts to stealing prescription drugs, he or she usually exhibits noticeable characteristics of drug use, such as, excessive shaking, sweating, lying, missing work, etc. These are all behaviors, which, if noticed, can subject a hospital to a negligence claim. When a hospital employee steals prescription medications, they may replace the stolen medications with other drugs, which can result in injury to patients who receive the wrong medications.
Under the laws of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, hospital pharmacies must act reasonably to protect hospital patients from medication mix-ups and errors. In situations where a hospital employee obtains pharmacy drugs and as a result, a patient is injured, the hospital can be held liable.
In Pennsylvania, hospitals can be sued for “corporate negligence.” This doctrine is used to substantiate claims against hospitals in cases of pharmacy error. This doctrine can also be employed in cases where a doctor or surgeon made a mistake.
More Hospital Pharmacy Malpractice Articles:
- Pennsylvania & New Jersey Hospital Emergency Room Malpractice – Pharmacy Errors
- Corporate Negligence Claims in a Pennsylvania Hospital Malpractice Lawsuit
- Pennsylvania Hospital Medical Malpractice Law – Theories of Negligence Against Hospitals
For more information, contact a hospital pharmacy error lawyer.
Published: August 20, 2012
*Source: www.northcountrygazette.org, “North Country Nurses Busted On Drug Charges”, August 16, 2012