A Texas nurse was fired after a group of nurses watched her swapping saline for fentanyl and injecting herself while on the clock.
Alexis McNeilly, a 25-year-old registered nurse from Houston, Texas, was caught in the act by her colleagues who watched her injecting herself on surveillance footage at Houston Methodist Hospital.
McNeilly is accused of stealing the opioids from Pyxis (a hospital vending machine-style dispenser) and filling the drug vials with sterile saline.
According to court documents obtained by The Mirror UK, the drug thefts occurred between March and May 2023.
The Pyxis vending machines dispense narcotics such as fentanyl, Dilaudid and MS Contin (morphine) via a code assigned to each nurse.
McNeilly is accused of “tampering with syringes and vials by removing the opioids and putting saline solution in their place,” according to court documents.
After swapping the narcotics with sterile saline, she would then return the altered vials to the Pyxis machine for unsuspecting nurses to administer to their patients.
Houston Methodist Hospital’s pharmacy manager discovered the thefts when a routine Pyxis drug inventory audit turned up discrepancies.
The audit found 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.”
She was accused of “overriding the Pyxis machine to access the medicine that was not prescribed to the defendant’s patients,” according to court documents.
On May 25, Houston police and the FDA were informed of the drug thefts and McNeilly was terminated.
She then took a nursing job at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas.
When police contacted her about drug thefts at Baylor Medical Center, she confessed to stealing and using Dilaudid off the clock. “I hear voices telling me what to do,” she said.
Hospitals rarely inform other hospitals about a nurse with a substance abuse problem. The lack of communication allows addicted nurses to continue working and put more patients at risk.
Police in Medford, Oregon are investigating a similar incidence of drug thefts that led to the death of at least one patient. As many as nine patients may have died as a result of drug diversion by an ICU nurse at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center.
According to KOBI 5, Medford police confirmed they are investigating at least 1 death. But two families told Oregon Live that healthcare workers said a nurse injected their loved ones with tap water.
The unnamed nurse in Oregon has not been charged or fired.
Dr. Robin Miller, host of KOBI 5‘s Docs On Call program, says 10% of nurses and doctors across the country divert fentanyl for their own personal use.
“You don’t think of medical professionals doing this, but 10% of medical professionals divert drugs. 10%… That’s a lot,” Dr. Miller said.
The following are signs that a nurse or doctor may be abusing drugs or alcohol while on duty:
- Shakiness or tremors in hands
- Dilated or constricted pupils
- Red, watery eyes and nose
- Yawning or nodding off
- Slurred speech
- Moving unsteadily
- Hyperactive, laughing or joking excessively
- Mood swings, anger alternating with laughter
Ask to speak with the nurse manager or a patient advocate if you are concerned about a nurse or healthcare professional displaying signs of drug addiction or alcoholism.
