Former pharmacy director at New Hampshire hospital where fentanyl went missing settles with state board

Keene, N.H.-based Cheshire Medical Center's former pharmacy director, Melissa Siciliano, PharmD, must pay a $1,000 fine and participate in education courses as part of a settlement agreement reached with the state's pharmacy board July 20, The Keene Sentinel reported July 26. 

Dr. Siciliano's pharmacy license was temporarily suspended March 30 as state regulators investigated how more than seven gallons of fentanyl went missing from the hospital across a four-month period from September to January. Her license was reinstated in mid-April, though she has resigned from Cheshire Medical Center. 

Dr. Siciliano in the settlement admitted to failing to control all drugs issued or dispensed in the phamarcy and to not properly supervising employees with prescriptions. In addition to a fine, the settlement agreement bars Dr. Siciliano from serving in a pharmacist-in-charge role for three years, and requires that she complete 16 hours of education courses within a year. The courses cover controlled substance security, storage and documentation and substance-abuse disorders, according to The Keene Sentinel. 

She must also continue to comply with the ongoing investigation into the missing drugs, though she was not accused of involvement in taking the drugs. It's unclear where Dr. Siciliano is currently employed, though her attorney said is still working in the pharmacy field outside of Dartmouth Health System, which is affiliated with Chesire, according to the news outlet. Other hospital leaders, including Chief Nursing Officer Amy Matthews, DNP, RN, had their license suspended amid the investigation. The emergency suspension of Dr. Matthews' license was vacated after a June 23 hearing. 

The suspensions came as regulators investigated how 583 bags of fentanyl solution went unaccounted for at the hospital from September to January, at least 200 of which were allegedly stolen by a former nurse at the hospital who died unexpectedly in early March. 

A hearing to determine whether to suspend or revoke Cheshire Medical Center's pharmacy permit has been postponed. 

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