At least 16 patients and their families filed a lawsuit against Jefferson Hills, Pa.-based Jefferson Hospital alleging the pain medication they received in 2012 was replaced without their knowledge or consent, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
The complaint, filed in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court Sept. 13, allegeed approximately 362 patients possibly received non-narcotic medication between June 2012 and October 2012. The lawsuit also makes several claims of negligence, including the hospital's failure to check medications given to patients and failing to supervise employees and prevent theft.
Investigators discovered the pain medication was switched Oct. 22, 2012 after the daughter of a patient who was given the substituted medication contacted a nurse explaining the pills given to her mother did not look like oxycodone pills, the report states.
In an investigation by hospital staff and the state attorney general's office the same month, officials discovered former pharmacy technician Cheryl Ashcraft, 47, replaced half of the hospital's nearly 500 blister packs of oxycodone with similar looking medication. Ms. Ashcraft admitted to investigators she switched the medication and kept and used the oxycodone for herself, according to the report.
Ms. Ashcraft pleaded guilty to several criminal counts in June 2013 and was sentenced to six months to 12 months in prison and an additional three years of probation, Pittsburgh's Action News-4 reports.
A spokesperson for Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network, which owns Jefferson Hospital, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette hospital officials responded "swiftly and appropriately in alerting authorities, terminating the employee in question and notifying potentially affected patients."
The spokesperson continued, stating, "At Jefferson, patient care quality and safety are our highest priorities. We will not have any further comment on the lawsuit at this time."
The lawsuit seeks punitive damages.
To read the full report, click here.