D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 3 9
A Drug Diverter Comes Clean
A CRNA's story of
how he got away with
stealing fentanyl —
and how easily
someone should have
caught him.
COVERING HIS TRACKS
I
was the last person you'd suspect of
being a drug diverter. I was the hospi-
tal's hardworking, well-liked chief anes-
thetist, the team player who didn't mind
staying late and taking on extra cases. I
walked right past you every day for 6 months
as I hid and fed my irresistible and irrational
fentanyl addiction, which had gotten to the
point where I didn't need the drug to feel
good; I needed it to feel normal.
Day after day, case after case, nobody
noticed that I was giving patients a little less
fentanyl and pocketing the waste so I could
slip it under my tongue or inject myself. I was
spiraling out of control, yet I appeared per-
fectly normal, a top OR performer even when
I was diverting and using large amounts of
opioids.
But here's what most people don't get. As
clear as the mask on my face, the signs that I
was diverting drugs were there all along, from
the dramatic spike in my fentanyl ordering
Rodrigo Garcia, APN, MBA, MSN, CRNA, ACIT | Chesterton, Ind.
• SUPPORTING ROLE Mr. Garcia spoke
at OR Excellence 2017 about his addic-
tion, recovery and mission to help
healthcare professionals who
are battling substance abuse.
