Boston hospital to pay $2.3 million settlement over stolen drugs
Accreditation Insider, September 29, 2015
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Accreditation Insider!
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston agreed to pay $2.3 million as part of a settlement over allegations that its shoddy drug supply controls led to employees stealing pain medication.
The Boston Globe reports that the settlement is the largest ever paid in a case involving drug diversion, which is the use of substances for nonmedical purposes. Between October 2011 and April 2015, one nurse stole 14,492 pills and another took 1,429; most of the pills were the painkiller oxycodone.
U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz told the Globe that authorities began an investigation in 2013 after MGH notified the Drug Enforcement Administration about the thefts. It took a year for MGH to realize that one of the nurses had been stealing pills. The agreement also detailed drug diversion incidents involving other staff.
Read the Boston Globe article.
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Accreditation Insider!
Related Products
-
Briefings on Accreditation and Quality
Briefings on Accreditation and Quality will help you with all of your accreditation and survey preparation needs. Every...
-
Credentialing Basics Boot Camp: Boca Raton, FL
An increased focus on quality and physician competency, has made patient safety and credentialing and privileging processes...
-
Reducing Nursing Documentation: Put a Two-Form Solution into Action
Implement a "two-form" solution for paper or electronic documentation that will put the nurses back at the bedside while...
-
The CMS Life Safety Survey: Know the Process and Stay Vigilant
During this 90-minute audio conference, Greeley Company consultants Brad Keyes and Jim Murphy will walk you and your staff...
-
Hospital Emergency Exercises:
Attached is the HTML for the 4.11.11 SAF audio conference on-demand page. It seems like when you were updating it, you kept...
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- CMS seeks comment on quality measures
- Practice the six rights of medication administration
- Don't forget the three checks in medication administration
- Note similarities and differences between HCPCS, CPT® codes
- Nursing responsibilities for managing pain
- ICD-10-CM coma, stroke codes require more specific documentation
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- Q&A: Primary, principal, and secondary diagnoses
- CMS creates web portal for questions about 1135 waivers, PHE
- Clearing up the confusion: CPT codes 76376 and 76377
- E-mailed
-
- Coronavirus vaccination: 4 best practices for communicating with patients
- Grievances, Complaints, and Patients’ Rights
- Keyes Q&A: Generator lighting, fire dampers, eyewash stations, ISLM fire drills
- Including 46600 in E/M leveling systems
- How to get reimbursed for restorative nursing
- Fetal non-stress tests represent important part of maternal and fetal health
- Coding, billing, and documentation tips for teaching physicians, interns, residents, and students
- Coding tip: Know how to correctly code each procedure an otolaryngologist can perform on turbinates
- Coding Clinic reiterates guidelines for provider documentation
- CMS creates web portal for questions about 1135 waivers, PHE
- Searched