Caitlin Ashley Evans, a former nurse who admitted to diverting opioids while working at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, Mont., has been sentenced to three years of probation.
Ms. Evans pleaded guilty in November to obtaining controlled substances by fraud, deception and subterfuge.
According to court documents, in October 2021, a hospital official discovered that Ms. Evans was ordering opiates — including oxycodone, hydromorphone, hydrocodone and fentanyl — at far higher rates and in greater amounts than other nurses. Another nurse also reported Ms. Evans' suspicious behavior to her supervisor.
When hospital administrators spoke with Ms. Evans, she admitted to diverting drugs from the hospital since fall 2020. She has been taking waste amounts of hydromorphone and morphine two to three times a week by exchanging the drugs for saline before disposing of them, according to the Justice Department.