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Nurse from Winchester gets jail time for diverting opioids at local hospital
Andrea Falzano, 39, was sentenced in federal court to three months in prison and one year of supervised release.
A former nurse from Winchester was sentenced in federal court on Wednesday to serve three months in prison and one year of supervised release for diverting opioids from a Boston-area hospital.
Andrea Falzano, 39, pleaded guilty to three counts of unlawfully obtaining controlled substances by fraud, deception, and subterfuge in August, according to the office of Acting U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Joshua Levy.
Prosecutors said that starting in May 2019, Falzano used her position as a nurse in an emergency room at a Boston-area hospital to withdraw controlled substances, including morphine, fentanyl and hydromorphone, from a locked drug cabinet 412 times for 299 already-discharged patients over the course of five months.
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“Negative drug tests uncovered during the investigation indicated that Falzano did not self-administer the drugs that she stole from the hospital at which she was employed, despite stating otherwise to her employer and the Board of Registration in Nursing,” Levy’s office said in a statement. “In statements to the Board, Falzano attempted to minimize her conduct by calling her theft of controlled substances an ‘isolated incident,’ which it was not.”
In a statement, Levy said Falzano “took advantage of her position of trust” to steal drugs from her employer.
“Our office is committed to fighting the opioid epidemic on all fronts, including the diversion of medical opioids by unethical health care providers like Ms. Falzano,” Levy said.
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