One of the most serious things you can be accused of in the medical profession is medication diversion or discrepancy. This can put your license and freedom at risk.
If there have been medication discrepancies in your place of work and investigators are looking at you for diversion, one of the most important things you can do for yourself and your livelihood is to hire a nursing license defense team to help you fight for the truth. Learn more about how discrepancies in medication counts can turn into diversion investigations.
What Are Medication Diversion Investigations?
Medication diversion investigations are formal inquiries that can help detect and track the removal of medications from medical facilities. The majority of the medications involved in these investigations are controlled substances, like painkillers.
Diversion occurs when a medication is diverted from its intended medical purpose. These investigations look for a few crucial red flags, including:
- Tampering: Diluting or replacing medications with saline or other substances
- Unusual Access Patterns: Certain staff members logging medication withdrawals during off hours or for patients they are not in charge of
- Waste and Discrepancies: Missing doses, overrides of the dispensing machine, and not getting witnesses for the disposal of medication waste
Any unusual changes to medication inventory or signs of tampering with bottle caps or packaging can be enough to trigger a diversion investigation.
The Consequences of Medication or Drug Diversion
Medication diversion is dangerous for staff members and patients alike. Patients can end up getting insufficient pain medication during their procedures, which could result in the development of shock as well as phobias related to healthcare settings and treatments.
Patients could also be exposed to compromised syringes, which could put them at risk of serious infections. They also face getting care from healthcare workers who are under the influence of controlled substances.
Facilities, like hospitals, also face consequences from drug diversion. They bear the brunt of the cost of replacing medications and dealing with investigations. Patients could file lawsuits against the facilities, too, resulting in significant settlements.
The healthcare worker accused of drug diversion is also at risk, whether the accusation is valid or not. If it is, then they are in danger of facing health issues themselves, including overdoses. This is true for anyone struggling with a substance use disorder.
Healthcare workers are also at risk of legal challenges. If a worker is found guilty of diverting medication, they could be fined, sentenced to jail, and have their license revoked.
The Stages of Medication Diversion Investigations
If you’re a nurse and are under scrutiny for controlled substance diversion, one of the first steps of your nursing license defense is to understand what the investigation will look like.
Discovery Phase
Everything is triggered by the discovery phase. A multidisciplinary team is generally in charge of monitoring medication inventory across a variety of automated dispensing cabinets, electronic health records, and badge access logs. Security camera footage will also play a role in these diversion surveillance investigations. If there are drug discrepancies, the investigation progresses.
The team looks at data trends. The goal is to find patterns of unexplained waste alerts or missed medications that can be connected to specific individuals. The multidisciplinary team, which is usually made up of pharmacists, legal counsel, and HR, will search for any system errors that could explain the discrepancies.
If the investigation continues to point to one person, and there are no other explanations for the missing medications, the next stage begins.
Interview Phase
Once the team has pinpointed who may be responsible for the diversion, the person will be called in for an interview, along with any witnesses. The focus of these interviews is to understand whether there are reasonable explanations for the noted substance discrepancies.
Resolutions and Reporting Phase
The next stage is the adjudication. During this stage, the investigatory team will determine whether medication diversion took place. If it did, then it would likely be necessary to report the incident to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) or the State Board of Pharmacy. Legal prosecution may be necessary.
Nursing License Defense and How to Protect Your Livelihood From a Diversion Investigation or Discrepancy
If you are under investigation for medication diversion, your license is at risk. You need assistance from attorneys who have experience with nursing license defenses.
It’s vital that you exercise your right to silence if your facility’s administration or management confronts you. If you do choose to speak to officials, ensure that you do so with an attorney present.
Keep in mind, however, that you may have to undergo a mandatory drug screening if your employer suspects you of medication diversion. If you refuse to comply, this could result in an emergency suspension of your license.
Your team of attorneys will work to prove that you are not guilty of medication diversion. They will request all evidence from logs, as well as security footage and witness statements. Your lawyers will also look at potential facility system errors, like faulty AI-monitoring programs, protocol breakdowns, and charting mistakes.
If you are suffering from a substance use disorder, your lawyer may be able to help you participate in a non-disciplinary monitoring program meant to rehabilitate you and not punish you for the illness. Taking part in this option could help you avoid license revocation, or loss of your license.
Fast Action Can Save Your Nursing License
If you’re under investigation for medication diversion at your hospital, pharmacy or even doctor’s office, you should not waste a single moment before getting an attorney. These are highly complex cases that depend greatly on technical evidence that comes from imperfect systems. An attorney will know how to present a clear picture of what truly happened and compliance with the investigation process.
At Unlock Legal, we have decades of experience representing people who face license revocation. We understand the stress you’re under and can provide the comprehensive and compassionate legal assistance you deserve.
We know how to develop thorough investigations to see how the evidence against you was obtained, and we can aggressively defend you in any legal challenges you face as a result of these accusations.
You should never attempt to represent yourself in these cases. Contact Unlock Legal to obtain the support you need.
