Co-worker selling her own prescription meds!

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

I am still shocked and feeling very uncomfortable about a conversation with a co-worker yesterday, and I am not sure whether to just let it go or to say something to her. I am a school nurse and the co-worker in question is not a nurse, so BON type issues are not present.

This co-worker is a cancer survivor, still in treatment. At lunch yesterday she started asking me some questions about some chronic pain she was having, which was partially present before the diagnosis and partially made worse by some of her treatments. She was upset because her MD who used to prescribe vicodin recently told her he can no longer prescribe it. She is having intractable pain, especially at night. I advised her to ask the MD for a referral to a pain management specialist and possibly to physical therapy. I also mentioned that many docs are getting more and more leery of giving scripts for narcs, due to the rise in prescription drug abuse. She asked if it was because of celebrity cases like Michael Jackson, and I said that probably has something to do with it, but that there are a lot of regular people out there drug-seeking as well.

What she said next stunned me and I did not know how to respond. She said that she should have just kept the meds that her MD prescribed her previously, but when a "friend" asked her if he could buy the pills for his "friend", who was very sick and could not get any meds, she gave him the pills and took the money !!!! I was shocked and said something like, "really, wow", and I guess my feelings registered on my face because she said "yeah, he just kept asking and asking, and finally I just gave them to him and later he brought me the money". I said something like "well, I would have just told him no way!" Then she mentioned how when you have cancer and medical bills, it is hard to turn down money like that. I was very uncomfortable, and she was too, so I just changed the subject back to talking to her doc about PT and pain management consults.

The worst thing was that another co-worker was in the room as well. That is the main reason I did not mention that what she did was ILLEGAL! I did not want this other co-worker, who may or may not understand the legal implications of this, to get involved or spread info around the office. Now I have no idea what to do. It has been on my mind ever since it happened, and I do not know if I should pull her aside and tell her that it is illegal to give meds to someone other than the person the script is written for, and it is especially illegal to SELL them!!!! Or, should I let it go and pretend I never heard this. I do not think this person was seeking a new vicodin script in order to sell them, I believe she does have pain, and that maybe this was an innocent (?) mistake. But, I also do not know her very well, so I don't know what to think.

Someone tell me what you would do if you were me, everytime I think about the conversation, I get the willies. Very uncomfortable to have this knowledge about someone you see on a regular basis!

[epac104]

Illegal, yes. Patients giving away or selling their meds happens all the same (I work in psych, so maybe I just see it more often). At any rate, I'm not as shocked as you are.

Now, what to do. That's entirely up to you. I personally wouldn't do anything. Good luck!

[LovebugLPN]

I know of someone very close to me who sells her xanax. I have told him it is illegal (even though he knows already). People really don't care and eventually may get caught. I would let the person know the law and then drop it.

[caliotter3]

I would mind my own business and not let this information come up in any conversation I initiated.

[cherrybreeze, ADN, RN]

She probably knows it's illegal. Don't underestimate that.

It sounds like an isolated incident, I would probably turn the other cheek at this point. I don't get the impression, at least from your story, that she's likely to do it again. She may have mentioned it to lighten a burden of guilt, too...sometimes saying something out loud is a huge need, when you are carrying around guilt.

I could be totally wrong, but if I were you, I'd let this one go.

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

Thanks for the advice. I would really like to just let it go, but I felt sort of guilty about it. Like if I did not say something to her I would be doing something wrong, or somehow an accomplice, I dunno. Based on the replies so far, I feel better just dropping it, which is what my gut was telling me anyway!

[cherrybreeze, ADN, RN]

Thanks for the advice. I would really like to just let it go, but I felt sort of guilty about it. Like if I did not say something to her I would be doing something wrong, or somehow an accomplice, I dunno. Based on the replies so far, I feel better just dropping it, which is what my gut was telling me anyway!

I can totally understand that feeling, but her telling you and you now having knowledge of this particular situation doesn't lend you any sort of responsiblity towards it. The incident she told you about is said and done, so it cannot be changed now. SHOULD she decide to do this agian in the future, that is also totally on her. It won't be your fault, either, even if you haven't said anything more.....she's a big girl, and should know the difference between right and wrong without being told. It's pretty common knowledge that selling prescription drugs is illegal (she mentioned that the friend had to ask her repeatedly, she said that it was hard to turn down money like that (the rest of that implied statement to me is, "even though I knew it was wrong."). It seems she knew how you felt about it, that's as good as saying something more.

You're a good person to be concerned, Purple.

[DayDreamin ER CRNP]

sounds to me like she was baiting you a little to see if you would buy them or trying to justify what she did. I see people selling their elderly, decreased family members' meds ALL the time. It is very common with hospice care too actually. It is definitely attractive to get $100+ for a half-full bottle of oxy or other narcotic pain med that will just go down the drain (figuratively of course).

What would I do? I wouldn't say anything at this point but I would have said something at the time. I would also be paying attention to her getting extra chummy with any of her students. If I thought she was selling the meds to students, I would intervene. Otherwise, I'd have to let it go.

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[BabyLady, BSN, RN]

I know of someone very close to me who sells her xanax. I have told him it is illegal (even though he knows already). People really don't care and eventually may get caught. I would let the person know the law and then drop it.

I agree with this advice...she is taking all of the risk and probably has no idea it's illegal or she wouldn't have mentioned it so openly.

You would be doing her a favor, but I would drop it. If you report it, she could possibly get arrested and she would lose her job as well as her health insurance and it's not like she is a major drug dealer or a drug seeker, etc...it's not worth it.

[mesa1979, BSN, RN]

This is a Nurse selling meds, or a patient selling meds? I'm confused......

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

Neither, she is a school employee. I'm a school nurse at an elementary school :)

[mesa1979, BSN, RN]

Neither, she is a school employee. I'm a school nurse at an elementary school :)

OOOhhhhh ok!

As a few of the others posted, I would just let her get caught. I mean I would not engage in a conversation about it ever again and if she persists, I would tell her, if you bring this up again, I will have to report you.