CRNA steals controlled substances

[coffeebythelake]

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Actually surprised that this even made the news..

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[DocMcCoy]

Actually surprised that this even made the news..

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Kind of feel bad because this is a real problem. But also glad they got the nomenclature right.

 

[coffeebythelake]

Kind of feel bad because this is a real problem. But also glad they got the nomenclature right.

I dont know if this is better, worse, or the same as diverting drugs from patients which is probably much more common and difficult to detect

 

[lakersbaby]

Kind of feel bad because this is a real problem. But also glad they got the nomenclature right.

haha atta boy CBS pittsburgh.. "Anesthesia Nurse" now go viral!

 

[jwk]

I dont know if this is better, worse, or the same as diverting drugs from patients which is probably much more common and difficult to detect

I guess if there's a "better" in this, it's better that he didn't sign it out for a patient and chart that it was given but wasn't. The patient suffers in that case.

But it's always bad when it happens. It's frequently a career-ending move since rehab is difficult - and worse, sometimes the first time anyone notices it's when they die from an OD.

 

[Proudfather94]

I don't see how he couldn't have gotten the medication legitimately if his back pain was real. Welp bye bye career.

 

[coffeebythelake]

I don't see how he couldn't have gotten the medication legitimately if his back pain was real. Welp bye bye career.

Yeah. Basically he is stealing drugs to satisfy his addiction. They could have said that.

 

[dabears505]

This is not limited to crnas. Have personally seen it happen to an md and know of another md that died from it.

 

[drmwvr]

Saw a guy just give up who died by intentional overdose of propofol at home. Folks with chronic pain that do anesthesia for a living are in real trouble and we would do well to be as aware as is possible to get them help before they're found dead. This guy got lucky and I'm glad for him and his family.

 

[drmwvr]

haha atta boy CBS pittsburgh.. "Anesthesia Nurse" now go viral!

odd occasion for triumphalism....

 

[deleted1130227]

odd occasion for triumphalism....

You take your victories wherever they may be.

 

[DrOwnage]

Saw a guy just give up who died by intentional overdose of propofol at home. Folks with chronic pain that do anesthesia for a living are in real trouble and we would do well to be as aware as is possible to get them help before they're found dead. This guy got lucky and I'm glad for him and his family.

I feel like without a pump it would be hard to OD on prop, maybe push 400-500mg at once before you fall asleep. Or maybe free drip a 1000mg vial through tubing into your IV. I guess being apneic for 5-7 minutes is enough to kill you without preoxygenation for a healthy individual?

 

[coffeebythelake]

This is not limited to crnas. Have personally seen it happen to an md and know of another md that died from it.

Of course this isn't rare or isolated. We have some crnas, anesthesiologists and residents who have diverted for their addictions. We've had techs steal from locked drawers in the anesthesia cart. Most of the time there is no criminal charges, just found, sent to drug rehab or terminated from employment. Just surprised this even made the news blotter.

 

[jwk]

Of course this isn't rare or isolated. We have some crnas, anesthesiologists and residents who have diverted for their addictions. We've had techs steal from locked drawers in the anesthesia cart. Most of the time there is no criminal charges, just found, sent to drug rehab or terminated from employment. Just surprised this even made the news blotter.

Out of perhaps 3 dozen anesthesia providers with narcotic abuse issues I personally know of over my long career, exactly one has successfully maintained his rehabilitation from narcotic abuse, and he was one with chronic pain issues that were eventually successfully treated. Sadly several have died, some early on, and sometimes many years after their initial "discovery". It's a very long road to recovery, and all too frequently, unsuccessful.

 

[drmwvr]

I feel like without a pump it would be hard to OD on prop, maybe push 400-500mg at once before you fall asleep. Or maybe free drip a 1000mg vial through tubing into your IV. I guess being apneic for 5-7 minutes is enough to kill you without preoxygenation for a healthy individual?

I wasn't there to ask him

 

[repititionition]

I feel like without a pump it would be hard to OD on prop, maybe push 400-500mg at once before you fall asleep. Or maybe free drip a 1000mg vial through tubing into your IV. I guess being apneic for 5-7 minutes is enough to kill you without preoxygenation for a healthy individual?

I genuinely struggle to know if this is serious.

 

[DrOwnage]

I genuinely struggle to know if this is serious.

You must genuinely struggle with a lot then

 

[chocomorsel]

I feel like without a pump it would be hard to OD on prop, maybe push 400-500mg at once before you fall asleep. Or maybe free drip a 1000mg vial through tubing into your IV. I guess being apneic for 5-7 minutes is enough to kill you without preoxygenation for a healthy individual?

Seriously? What am I reading here? Hard to kill yourself with propofol? Since when?

 

[chocomorsel]

I genuinely struggle to know if this is serious.

Me too. Like WTF am I reading? Is this person an anesthesiologist?

 

[DrOwnage]

Me too. Like WTF am I reading? Is this person an anesthesiologist?

Alright you got me, after all these years I'm actually a CRNA. You're telling me its a ridiculous statement to say that an otherwise healthy person in their 20s pushing propofol on themselves wouldn't survive? I push 200 on young patients all the time who go unconscious but remain breathing steadily while placing the LMA. I've had 3 different young healthy people push their own propofol in their IV for induction and they can usually get through the 20cc syringe before they fall asleep, but realistically not much more than that (unless its a large bore). Younger individuals would be able to tolerate the hypoxia even with no preoxygenation.

 

[chocomorsel]

Alright you got me, after all these years I'm actually a CRNA. You're telling me its a ridiculous statement to say that an otherwise healthy person in their 20s pushing propofol on themselves wouldn't survive? I push 200 on young patients all the time who go unconscious but remain breathing steadily while placing the LMA. I've had 3 different young healthy people push their own propofol in their IV for induction and they can usually get through the 20cc syringe before they fall asleep, but realistically not much more than that (unless its a large bore). Younger individuals would be able to tolerate the hypoxia even with no preoxygenation.

So all your young patients that you push Propofol stay breathing? All of them?
And yeah, people aren’t preoxygenating themselves before they off themselves.
Again, WTF am I reading? I weigh 55Kg. Never weighed more than 59kg in my entire life. You don’t think it would be easy to get me apneic with 200mg? And yeah with a bigger person get a 30cc and an 18G needle and let’s see if they keep breathing.
These people are determined to kill themselves: I doubt they are messing around with 22G needles.

Again, are you for real?

 

[Arch Guillotti]

Closing. Road to nowhere.