Oxford Nurse With Drug Habit Stole Fentanyl From Clinic: Feds

OXFORD, CT — A 49-year-old nurse, who federal prosecutors said had a drug habit, pleaded guilty to stealing fentanyl from vials at the Orange-based clinic where she used to work, and refilling those vials with saline to hide her actions, according to authorities.

Donna Monticone, of Oxford, waived her right to be indicted and pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of tampering with a consumer product before United States District Judge Janet C. Hall, announced acting U.S. Attorney Leonard C. Boyle. The court hearing occurred via videoconference due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

According to court documents and statements, Monticone was a nurse at the Yale Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility clinic in Orange, where her responsibilities included ordering and inventorying a variety of narcotics used by the clinic, including painkiller fentanyl.

"In June 2020, Monticone began stealing fentanyl for her own use," according to prosecutors. "She accessed secure storage areas and took vials of fentanyl, used a syringe to withdraw the narcotics from the vials, and reinjected saline into vials so that it would appear as if none of the narcotics were missing."

Both fentanyl, a power narcotic, and saline are clear, making it impossible to detect the switch by sight, writes the New Haven Independent.

Investigators determined "that approximately 75 percent of the fentanyl given to patients at the Yale REI clinic from June to October 2020 was adulterated with saline," according to prosecutors.

Some vials contained diluted fentanyl, while others contained no drug at all, only saline, authorities said.

In a statement to Patch, Josh Koskoff, an attorney who represents some families of patients who suffered under Monticone's scheme, said the families want answers from the clinic about how this could have been allowed to happen.

"The families want to understand how this was allowed to happen," Koskoff said. "This is a preeminent hospital that is supposed to be responsible for the oversight of medication so we hope Yale will provide the answers these women deserve about not just how it happened but what Yale is going to do to make sure it doesn't happen to other women."

Prosecutors added, "In pleading guilty, Monticone admitted that knew that the adulterated vials of fentanyl she replaced at the Yale REI clinic would be used in surgical procedures, and that the absence of an anesthetic during an outpatient procedure may cause serious bodily injury to the patient."

Monticone further admitted that she initially injected herself with the fentanyl while working at the clinic, but eventually began taking the vials home, where she "would refill the vials with sterile saline at home, bring them back to the clinic, and reintroduce them into the stock of fentanyl available for use during surgical procedures."

In late October or early November, Monticone threw away approximately 175 vials of fentanyl in the garage at the facility, according to prosecutors.

Monticone is scheduled to be sentenced on May 25, at which time she faces a maximum term of 10 years in prison. She has surrendered her nursing license and is currently free after posting bond on bail of $50,000.

This matter is being investigated by the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations; the DEA’s New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad; and the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, Drug Control Division. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ray Miller.