pt. called in narcotics under MY name...now what

[Yulie]

Im an lvn at a clinic. I just found out a pt of ours, who was denied her last request of hydrocodone phoned it herself using my name. We found this out because she did not include strength and the pharmacy faxed over a clarification fax. I am angry. What is the best way to handle this now? I did speak with the pharmacy, they said they have an investigator who will check into it. Should I file a police report? Tell the board? has this happened to any of you and what is the best way to handle it. My license is dear to me and I am offended someone would jeapardize it.

[nursel56]

I have a sense of understanding that addiction is a disease and have family members who suffer but this person did commit a crime and I wouldn't hesitate for a second before calling the police. I see this as a bit different than "identity theft".

Seems to me it was happenstance that the OP found out about this. It used to be you could expect a simple clarification or explanation to be enough should there be any sort of reperucssion from this person impersonating another to obtain controlled substances. I no longer feel that way at all.. The important thing is that you create a trail of documentation that indicates you were made aware of the situation.

Having recently dealt with bureaucracies I don't think you can do too much to get your story out there. They twist, they turn, they misinterpret, they lose things, they tell you a different answer with each communication, etc etc. and that is the "good guys"!! The patient has already demonstrated a willingness to lie. I would want to cover all my bases.

[GM2RN]

I hear what you are saying- and I can appreciate the sense of violation... but this is someone who is dependent on drugs- it isn't about you personally (even though you are the one in the middle).... I know that may sound like I don't get it- I do (from different types of violation). If you weren't 'convenient' it would have been someone else- I'm glad your doc and the pharmacy are doing what they can- and it sounds like you have a really sweet heart. :) You should be fine w/your license. Sometimes patients can be scary and more sick than we can deal with- and it's hard.

xtxrn, I agree that it's not likely that the OPs license is in jeopardy, but I do see this as identity theft. Think about the anonymous person who uses a credit card belonging to someone else without his/her knowledge, or someone having his/her house broken into. Those things are not personal either, but they do feel like violations against your person and are against the law. In my opinion, using the identity of another person to illegally obtain drugs is no different.

[Amanda.RN]

Do you have a Risk Management department? If so, I would contact them for their advice. Don't contact the police without doing so because I'm sure there's a specific protocol they have in place for this type of event (or they will make one...they're lawyers).

If you do not have a Risk Management department, I would make sure your supervisor / manager knows about this. The patient's physician should also be made aware and the pt should be dismissed from the clinic. Document this in the patient's chart if you haven't already done so. I would also call the pharmacist to follow up on the investigation that they're doing to make sure it's being handled.

You and your license are not in jeopardy. You did nothing wrong.

Good luck to you!

Amanda Tillema

[NurseSnarky]

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/identity+theft?show=0&t=1312377582

I do see that OP feels that her trust was broken. We try to help patients no matter what setting we work in and to have this patient break that trust, it can feel awful. I think you received some good advice here. And it also appears that this may be more common than we knew about because of course, not all situations are caught.

[nursel56]

I was thinking more along the lines of the individual wanting to retaliate or somehow implicate the OP. Addicts can do things way out in left field when they are threatened.

Don't know too much about it or even if it is still around but Texas had a company called Group One where unfounded gossip can find it's way into a file for prospective employers to peruse.

I'm thinking also of the many posts here that start out with something simple appearing - the nurse is reassured that everything will be fine - and a few weeks down the line it all goes horribly wrong, it's totally unfair. But the nurse herself will have to dig out from under despite that reality.

[Merlyn]

This is an honest question- not being sarcastic... What is the crime against the nurse? Someone called in a phony prescription- that's a crime against the pharmacy....What will the police do? They don't care about her license. And she didn't DO anything :)

It's not the Police that care . It's those guys that come from Washington. The ones that have little plastic I.D. cards that read FDA. The ones for which we count in and out each shift and carry keys, It's for the BON that give us our licenses. At least if she has alerted the local Narcotics Officers then everything is Kosher. It's when nothing is reported that licenses are taken away. Don't kid yourself, at this time in our country, the Feds would be very interested in this case. Without documentation the patient could say that the nurse was in on it. That the nurses made the patient give her cash to use her name. Not far fetched as you might might think. Junkies will do anything for their fix, I worked with enough of them on both sides of the desk, if you get my drift. She should file that report according to my brother-in-law who is a retired Police Lieutenant. I like this site to be nice. I'm too old to hear about a caring person being grilled over the actions of a damn junk head.

[BabyLady, BSN, RN]

It's not the Police that care . It's those guys that come from Washington. The ones that have little plastic I.D. cards that read FDA. The ones for which we count in and out each shift and carry keys, It's for the BON that give us our licenses. At least if she has alerted the local Narcotics Officers then everything is Kosher. It's when nothing is reported that licenses are taken away. Don't kid yourself, at this time in our country, the Feds would be very interested in this case. Without documentation the patient could say that the nurse was in on it. That the nurses made the patient give her cash to use her name. Not far fetched as you might might think. Junkies will do anything for their fix, I worked with enough of them on both sides of the desk, if you get my drift. She should file that report according to my brother-in-law who is a retired Police Lieutenant. I like this site to be nice. I'm too old to hear about a caring person being grilled over the actions of a damn junk head.

I'll be honest..you have been watching too much CSI.

1. What is she going to report to the narcotics officer and what PROOF is she going to be able to provide?

Nothing...absolutely nothing...because it is the PHARMACY, not her, that took downt he information.

2. Identity theft is the only thing that is even close to being her case...and even THAT is subjective, depending on which state. Some require something more than just a name, such as a license number or a SS#.

3. The pharmacy is already doing an investigation, she needs to report it to her physician...let those that are in the AUTHORITY to ake care of it..take care of it.

4. If your brother-in-law is a former officer then he should know that he said/she said is NOT SUFFICIENT to convict in a court of law..."beyond a reasonable doubt" is required...hard to prove a money exchange when no evidence of one took place.

5. There IS DOCUMENTATION...it's called a traced call from where the precription was called in from....if it wasn't the doctor's office or a phone number to tie the RN into it (her home or her cell), then no proof exists she was involved. She cannot legally obtain phone records without a court order...the crime has legally been committed against the pharmacy...in fact, THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE TO KEEP HER INFORMED of how the investigation is going.

Seriously...some people are blowing this WAY out of context.

This is a good time for critical thinking! Not imaginative play.

[xtxrn, ASN, RN]

xtxrn, I agree that it's not likely that the OPs license is in jeopardy, but I do see this as identity theft. Think about the anonymous person who uses a credit card belonging to someone else without his/her knowledge, or someone having his/her house broken into. Those things are not personal either, but they do feel like violations against your person and are against the law. In my opinion, using the identity of another person to illegally obtain drugs is no different.

I agree- my only point is that an addict isn't looking at the source personally, although it can feel very personal. That's all :)

[xtxrn, ASN, RN]

It's not the Police that care . It's those guys that come from Washington. The ones that have little plastic I.D. cards that read FDA. The ones for which we count in and out each shift and carry keys, It's for the BON that give us our licenses. At least if she has alerted the local Narcotics Officers then everything is Kosher. It's when nothing is reported that licenses are taken away. Don't kid yourself, at this time in our country, the Feds would be very interested in this case. Without documentation the patient could say that the nurse was in on it. That the nurses made the patient give her cash to use her name. Not far fetched as you might might think. Junkies will do anything for their fix, I worked with enough of them on both sides of the desk, if you get my drift. She should file that report according to my brother-in-law who is a retired Police Lieutenant. I like this site to be nice. I'm too old to hear about a caring person being grilled over the actions of a damn junk head.

I know what you mean about the Feds- but the fact that the patient had been denied refills for narcs is a huge red flag re: his/her credibility in this situation :) It the TX BON over a year to take away Andrea Yates RN license, and she drowned her 5 kids ! It takes substantial documentation and investigation to yank a license.:) I worked with addicts for years- I know their dishonest behavior :) And I do know they will do anything- but that doesn't mean that the Feds, BON, or anybody else isn't going to also see that, and focus on the criminal, and realize the nurse was duped. The pharmacy notified her, so they knew about it before she did....I am looking at the source of all of this- the addict- anyone with a few neurons rubbing together will figure out what the real deal is :)

[Merlyn]

I'll be honest..you have been watching too much CSI.

1. What is she going to report to the narcotics officer and what PROOF is she going to be able to provide?

Nothing...absolutely nothing...because it is the PHARMACY, not her, that took downt he information.

2. Identity theft is the only thing that is even close to being her case...and even THAT is subjective, depending on which state. Some require something more than just a name, such as a license number or a SS#.

3. The pharmacy is already doing an investigation, she needs to report it to her physician...let those that are in the AUTHORITY to ake care of it..take care of it.

4. If your brother-in-law is a former officer then he should know that he said/she said is NOT SUFFICIENT to convict in a court of law..."beyond a reasonable doubt" is required...hard to prove a money exchange when no evidence of one took place.

5. There IS DOCUMENTATION...it's called a traced call from where the precription was called in from....if it wasn't the doctor's office or a phone number to tie the RN into it (her home or her cell), then no proof exists she was involved. She cannot legally obtain phone records without a court order...the crime has legally been committed against the pharmacy...in fact, THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE TO KEEP HER INFORMED of how the investigation is going.

Seriously...some people are blowing this WAY out of context.

This is a good time for critical thinking! Not imaginative play.

I don't watch CSI, just call me paranoid.

[xtxrn, ASN, RN]

I like this site to be nice. I'm too old to hear about a caring person being grilled over the actions of a damn junk head.

I do too :).... But the people we've all encountered aren't always nice. And that's just part of the job. I'm glad the OP posted this- but think she's getting more fear than reason. An investigation was already started. Her license is fine- she did nothing. The addict has a track record of wanting more drugs, and didn't get them, so called in an illegal prescription ....

And (this is for whoever posted this- don't remember) what is this about all of our phones being tapped? The Patriot Act wasn't set up or funded for tapping everyones' phone It's for terror stuff- not junkies (unless an ongoing drug investigation is going on, and bugs have been placed). You can't get calls after the fact- just that a call was made- not the content...if they have info that the junkie called the pharmacy, there's nothing to say he/she wasn't just calling to ask if their prescription is ready That alone is zippo- so circumstantial it hardly counts

Agree-- TV has turned us into armchair detectives Thank GOD nobody asks any of us to testify !! LOL:D:twocents:

[xtxrn, ASN, RN]

I don't watch CSI, just call me paranoid.

No- (I know that wasn't directed at me- but I've almost always have a spare :two cents: !! )... I see you more as concerned