A federal grand jury has re-indicted a former Yale New Haven (Conn.) Hospital nurse accused of tampering with medications meant to be dispensed to patients, according to a Nov. 9 report from the Republican-American.
Sean Falzarano was first indicted in October 2023 on five counts of tampering with a consumer product. The Southbury nurse pleaded not guilty.
In August, Mr. Falzarano was re-indicted with a superseding indictment, which added new charges and identified the hospital where he worked, according to the Republican-American's report. The re-indictment charges him with 17 counts of tampering with a consumer product and five counts of illegally obtaining controlled substances by misrepresentation.
Federal prosecutors allege that between September 2021 and January 2022, Mr. Falzarano removed vials of lorazepam, an anti-anxiety medication, and hydromorphone, a pain reliever, from the hospital's automated medication dispensers. Prosecutors say he replaced the drugs with saline solution before returning them to the dispensing system for use.
Mr. Falzarano's nursing license has been suspended since June 2022, according to the state’s professional license lookup.
In a statement to Becker's on Nov. 11, a spokesperson for Yale New Haven Health said the system "is committed to patient safety and worked to immediately address the identified drug diversions and to mitigate harm to the affected patients."
"Patient safety is our paramount focus, and we continue to refine our practices to detect and prevent future cases of diversion. These practices include robust technology and security measures designed to keep patients safe."