Legally speaking: Diversion of Narcotics

Mar 7, 2015

  • From a legal perspective, diversion of drugs is defined as the unlawful channeling of regulated pharmaceuticals, including the misuse of prescription medications
  • Discovery of narcotic diversion in a hospital organization requires full disclosure to senior officials within the organization, including the pharmacy manager, compliance officer, and human resources personnel.
  •  A thorough investigation of the drug diversion must occur immediately to search for system failures.
  • Involved patient records must be carefully examined for falsification and omissions.
  • Accurate and detailed documentation of the investigation is imperative.
  • Documentation must be objective and specific, but should be confidential and revealed only to the appropriate authorities.
  • Mandatory reporting and disciplinary actions are required in many states, and penalty and other proceedings are dependent on the investigation.
  • In addition, the Nurse Executive has a legal responsibility to investigate if organization policies and procedures were violated. If these were breached, further systems review would be warranted to assess for flaws and deficiencies that could have contributed to the diversion.
  • If the NE fails to disclose this information or resolve the problem, further legal quandaries could result the NE being accused of maleficence for failing to protect patients from a potentially unsafe nurse.
  • "Negligent supervision" could be charged against the NE for failing to report an impaired nurse who has admitted to narcotic diversion.
  • The NE has an obligation to ensure nurses provide safe and prudent patient care, and failure to report or resolve the situation would be negligent and potentially subject the nurse and patients to further harm.