Diversion at Yale REI clinic

[nimbus]

“In June 2020, Monticone began stealing fentanyl for her own use. She accessed secure storage areas and took vials of fentanyl, used a syringe to withdraw the narcotics from the vials, and reinjected saline into vials so that it would appear as if none of the narcotics were missing. The investigation revealed that approximately 75 percent of the fentanyl given to patients at the Yale REI clinic from June to October 2020 was adulterated with saline. Some of the vials contained diluted fentanyl, while others contained no drug at all and contained just saline.

Monticone knew that the adulterated vials of fentanyl she replaced at the Yale REI clinic would be used in surgical procedures, and that the absence of an anesthetic during an outpatient procedure may cause serious bodily injury to the patient. Monticone initially injected herself with the fentanyl while working at the Yale REI clinic and eventually began taking the vials home. She would refill the vials with sterile saline at home, bring them back to the clinic, and reintroduce them into the stock of fentanyl available for use during surgical procedures. On approximately November 1, 2020, Monticone brought approximately 175 vials of fentanyl that she had taken from the Yale REI clinic and discarded them in waste containers at the clinic.

Numerous victims submitted letters to Judge Hall describing physical pain they experienced during their procedures at the Yale REI clinic during this time period.”

Yale Agrees to Pay $308K to Resolve Allegations of Violations of Controlled Substances Act

www.justice.gov

Former Nurse Sentenced for Tampering with Fentanyl Vials Intended for Patients at Fertility Clinic

www.justice.gov

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[nimbus]

“Like Czar, the other women interviewed in the podcast describe being gaslighted. They were told to “calm down” or that they were “hysterical” and the experience many said was terrifying and like a “living nightmare” wasn't really happening. The excruciating pain was all in their heads. Those experiences have been recounted in interviews, court filings, op-eds and testimony the women have given since learning what really happened.”

‘How could this happen at Yale?’: Serial podcast features women whose pain meds were swapped at fertility clinic

"The Retrievals" is a five-part podcast exploring how an estimated hundreds of women had fentanyl swapped with saline during painful fertility surgeries.

www.ctinsider.com

 

[nimbus]

https://podcasts.musixmatch.com/podcast/the-retrievals-01h3gh13xr5h773stscaswrdrc/episode/episode-4-the-clinic-01h6bcnaz0k7636k1pezp0y6zf

 

[pgg]

So nobody noticed that the flip tops on the vials were gone?

 

[coffeebythelake]

So nobody noticed that the flip tops on the vials were gone?

Someone told me about this story. I think she replaced the lids. An anesthesiologist thought the lids came off too easily which led to an investigation

 

[T-burglar]

Was wondering this also, how did the tampering go unnoticed

 

[TheLoneWolf]

Read my lips...glass ampoules...thank me later

 

[dA pilot]

Someone told me about this story. I think she replaced the lids. An anesthesiologist thought the lids came off too easily which led to an investigation

I do not believe at this period of time, they used anesthesia services. Sedation was administered by RN and directed by proceduralist.

 

[Gern Blansten]

Read my lips...glass ampoules...thank me later

I’ve heard of people using clear glue in a tiny amount to put a glass ampule back together after filling with saline. Obviously, if it is inspected closely it will be noticeable and it will have a very different feel when you pop the top off again. But people have done it before and gotten away with it for weeks before getting caught. But they do fit back together surprisingly well a high percentage of the time.

 

[coffeebythelake]

I do not believe at this period of time, they used anesthesia services. Sedation was administered by RN and directed by proceduralist.

At the time yes. Anesthesia was brought in when issues persisted. I was talking to one of our fertility docs the other day and she had connections w Yale's program

 

[MirrorTodd]

Damn that's pretty nuts. I wonder if the OB's had been wondering what the **** was going on when their patients were screaming in pain.

 

[GassYous]

I’ve heard of people using clear glue in a tiny amount to put a glass ampule back together after filling with saline. Obviously, if it is inspected closely it will be noticeable and it will have a very different feel when you pop the top off again. But people have done it before and gotten away with it for weeks before getting caught. But they do fit back together surprisingly well a high percentage of the time.

I can't even pop the tops without about ten 4x4s unless i want to slice off a finger

 

[abolt18]

I can't even pop the tops without about ten 4x4s unless i want to slice off a finger

Do you pop the top towards you? Just curious. Every person who has ever told me about getting cut by one, pulls the top towards themselves when breaking it. I use no 4x4s, and have never come close to cutting myself on one. I break the top away from me. I have a little hypothesis in my mind that this is the difference-maker.

 

[Gern Blansten]

Do you pop the top towards you? Just curious. Every person who has ever told me about getting cut by one, pulls the top towards themselves when breaking it. I use no 4x4s, and have never come close to cutting myself on one. I break the top away from me. I have a little hypothesis in my mind that this is the difference-maker.

In my experience, injuries happen when the thumb slips and brushes across the lower broken base of the vial. If you grab the vial and put the thumbs together (tip of thumb to tip of thumb) and bend towards yourself, all the time with thumbs braced against each other, there is little chance for slipping across the lower broken portion because your lower thumb is the stopper for the upper thumb.

 

[pgg]

Do you pop the top towards you? Just curious. Every person who has ever told me about getting cut by one, pulls the top towards themselves when breaking it. I use no 4x4s, and have never come close to cutting myself on one. I break the top away from me. I have a little hypothesis in my mind that this is the difference-maker.

I always pull the top towards me, so that any fragments that get flung off are moving away from me and toward other people.

The only time I've ever hurt myself is when the entire top of a vial crushed into 100 pieces as I gripped it. Must have been a defective vial.

Some people aren't aware that some ampules are only scored on one side, and that there's a dot marking the weak point. People who break these the wrong way have to use much more force than necessary and get very jagged tops. There's a maker of metoprolol that does this for some reason.

 

[nimbus]

Gloves help too.

 

[Agast]

I always use two hands to pop the top off a glass ampule, no idea people were pushing with their thumbs.

Really sad for these women

 

[coffeebythelake]

"Monticone was ordered to serve three years of supervised release, four weekends of incarceration, and three months of home confinement."

She should have seen the inside of a prison cell and ordered to pay restitution. Not a real deterrent for a drug addict sociopath. Good thing she had her nursing license pulled.

 

[Iso4ane]

In my experience, injuries happen when the thumb slips and brushes across the lower broken base of the vial. If you grab the vial and put the thumbs together (tip of thumb to tip of thumb) and bend towards yourself, all the time with thumbs braced against each other, there is little chance for slipping across the lower broken portion because your lower thumb is the stopper for the upper thumb.

Depends on if their is a dot or not. Those with a dot are only partially scored and need to be broken away from the dot,

 

[Gern Blansten]

Depends on if their is a dot or not. Those with a dot are only partially scored and need to be broken away from the dot,

Pretty sure you can break towards the dot just as easily. That’s how I have always done it. To be honest, I’ve never considered if it would be easier to break away from the dot because I’ve always done the opposite (break towards the dot) and it seems to pop free pretty easily. Now I’m going to have to look a bit closer and experiment and make sure.

 

[GassYous]

Pretty sure you can break towards the dot just as easily. That’s how I have always done it. To be honest, I’ve never considered if it would be easier to break away from the dot because I’ve always done the opposite (break towards the dot) and it seems to pop free pretty easily. Now I’m going to have to look a bit closer and experiment and make sure.

Don't slice off any fingers

 

[crash2500]

I break them similar to a kit Kat... Honestly if your not popping glass amps frequently, are you not doing ob? Can't really get around them with spinals and epidurals.

 

[MirrorTodd]

I just use the syringe wrapper. Super easy.