Nurse gets two years from feds for product tampering
TEXARKANA, Texas — A former nurse who was caught stealing a powerful narcotic from HealthCare Express in Texarkana was sentenced Thursday to two years in federal prison for consumer product tampering.
Clifford Russell Harris, 38, has until Jan. 20 to surrender to officials with the Bureau of Prisons. He appeared with Texarkana lawyer Michael Friedman on Thursday for sentencing before U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III in Texarkana’s downtown federal building. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Hornok handled the case for the government.
Schroeder sentenced Harris to a 24-month term for conduct caught on video surveillance at the urgent care clinic where he once worked as a registered nurse. Harris has since lost his nursing license.
Harris emptied a vial of fentanyl, a powerful narcotic that has gained popularity as a street drug, and filled the vial with another substance Dec. 29, 2018, according to felony information in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas.
According to a Texas Board of Nursing order revoking Harris’ licenses as a registered nurse and as a licensed vocational nurse Nov. 12, 2019, Harris did not appear for a hearing before the board and a default order was entered ending his nursing career.
The order, acquired by the Gazette through a Freedom of Information Act request, includes a finding that Harris was captured on video surveillance accessing a locked safe that contained controlled substances at the Richmond Road clinic.
He was “observed on video surveillance picking the lock while the Pain Management Clinic was closed,” the order states. “Subsequently, tampered vials of Fentanyl and Morphine were discovered.”
The conduct Harris pleaded guilty to includes “reckless disregard for the risk that another person would be placed in danger of death or bodily injury, and under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to such risk” by tampering with a medical product meant for use by a consumer.
According to the Joint
Commission, a nonprofit agency that accredits health care facilities and sets health care standards, drug diversion by healthcare workers is a serious problem.
“Statistics from both the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the American Nurses Association suggest that about 10% of health care workers are abusing drugs. Due to the availability of and access to medications in health care organizations, diversion of controlled substances can be difficult to detect and prevent without a comprehensive controlled substances diversion prevention program,” the Joint Commission site states.
The Centers for Disease Control warns that drug diversion can negatively impact patient health.
CDC notes patient harm can come from substandard care delivered by an impaired health care provider, denial of essential pain medication or therapy, risks of infection, for example with hepatitis C virus or bacterial pathogens, if a provider tampers with injectable drugs.
According to a sentencing memorandum in Harris’ case, he was struggling with addiction at the time of the offense. Following his release from federal prison, Harris will be supervised for three years. If he fails to comply with conditions of release during that time he could be ordered to serve additional time.