I am reading yet another story in
Newsweek about an ER nurse who self-medicated with diverted narcotics while on duty, now known to have given at least 2 people Hepatitis C. According to the article, the hospital now plans to notify approximately 2,600 patients potentially affected to come in for testing, at the hospital's expense, as well as free treatment for any patients who are discovered to have the disease.
Let we forget, similar diversion by surgery technicians Rocky Allen and Kristin Parker resulted in the need to test nearly 30,000 patients.
It amazes me that individuals I meet see diversion as an embarrassment to sweep under the rug rather than a public health issue to be confronted, planned for, and managed. All too often I hear of hospitals firing the offender, without notification to any agency, and that offender simply moves on to another hospital. One wonders if the nurse in this story had experienced a similar history and how many others she might have affected.
I know that my readers are likely tired of me banging this drum; I will stop when I see our profession, and healthcare in general, treat this problem as the public health issue that it is, and actively pursue a program of monitoring and intervention. I would be thrilled to never hear about this again.
What do you think?
Dennis A. Tribble, Pharm.D, FASHP
Ormond Beach, FL
DATdoc@aol.com
The opinions expressed herein are my own, and not necessarily those of my employer or of ASHP.