Thursday, June 11, 2009
Pulaski anesthetist pleads guilty to stealing drugs
Updated 11:39 a.m.
Correction: Pulaski Community Hospital is run by HCA Southwest Virginia. An earlier version of this posting misidentified the hospital's affiliation.
An anesthetist who worked for decades at HCA and Carilion hospitals in Pulaski and Montgomery County pleaded guilty this morning to two counts of stealing the medicine that was supposed to numb patients undergoing surgery.
Alvin Earl Parkes, 62, of Draper was in federal court for a streamlined procedure in which he waived indictment and pleaded guilty. Assistant U.S. Attorney Charlene Day told U.S. District Judge Samuel Wilson that between July and September 2008, Parkes removed fenanyl citrate from vials at Pulaski Community Hospital and replaced it with saline solution in an attempt to avoid detection.
After the hearing, both Day and Parkes said no patients appeared to be affected by Parkes' actions. Parkes said that he knew the drug was diluted and adjusted dosages accordingly.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid used as an anesthetic and for treating pain. It can be habit-forming, and Parkes told Wilson he had been treated for addiction after his actions at the hospital were detected.
Day said staff at the Pulaski hospital, which is run by HCA Southwest Virginia, became suspicious when Parkes began reporting a much higher rate of broken fentanyl vials. There were no witnesses to the breakages, so staff took a syringe from Parkes' cart, had it tested and discovered it didn't contain fentanyl, Day said.
Trained as an anesthetist during a stint in the U.S. Air Force, Parkes said he came to Pulaski in 1979 and had worked at the hospital there ever since except for a few years spent at Carilion New River Valley Medical Center.
Parkes has given up his RN license and is no longer working with either hospital, investigators said.
Parkes said he had been at the Pulaski hospital so long that a sign had been hung there in his honor reading "WWED" for "What Would Earl Do?"
"That's how much I messed up," he said.
Each count of obtaining fentanyl by fraud carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, though federal sentencing guidelines likely will recommend much less.
A sentencing date has not been listed on the federal court schedule.
Correction: Pulaski Community Hospital is run by HCA Southwest Virginia. An earlier version of this posting misidentified the hospital's affiliation.
An anesthetist who worked for decades at HCA and Carilion hospitals in Pulaski and Montgomery County pleaded guilty this morning to two counts of stealing the medicine that was supposed to numb patients undergoing surgery.
Alvin Earl Parkes, 62, of Draper was in federal court for a streamlined procedure in which he waived indictment and pleaded guilty. Assistant U.S. Attorney Charlene Day told U.S. District Judge Samuel Wilson that between July and September 2008, Parkes removed fenanyl citrate from vials at Pulaski Community Hospital and replaced it with saline solution in an attempt to avoid detection.
After the hearing, both Day and Parkes said no patients appeared to be affected by Parkes' actions. Parkes said that he knew the drug was diluted and adjusted dosages accordingly.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid used as an anesthetic and for treating pain. It can be habit-forming, and Parkes told Wilson he had been treated for addiction after his actions at the hospital were detected.
Day said staff at the Pulaski hospital, which is run by HCA Southwest Virginia, became suspicious when Parkes began reporting a much higher rate of broken fentanyl vials. There were no witnesses to the breakages, so staff took a syringe from Parkes' cart, had it tested and discovered it didn't contain fentanyl, Day said.
Trained as an anesthetist during a stint in the U.S. Air Force, Parkes said he came to Pulaski in 1979 and had worked at the hospital there ever since except for a few years spent at Carilion New River Valley Medical Center.
Parkes has given up his RN license and is no longer working with either hospital, investigators said.
Parkes said he had been at the Pulaski hospital so long that a sign had been hung there in his honor reading "WWED" for "What Would Earl Do?"
"That's how much I messed up," he said.
Each count of obtaining fentanyl by fraud carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, though federal sentencing guidelines likely will recommend much less.
A sentencing date has not been listed on the federal court schedule.
