January 15, 2003 07:00:12 PM PST, Associated Press
A suburban fire chief and a paramedic lost their jobs after tests showed painkillers kept in ambulances had been diluted or in some cases replaced entirely with saline, authorities said Wednesday.
No charges have been filed, but the FBI ( news - web sites) is investigating and is testing vials of morphine and Demerol from ambulances in three Missouri communities outside Kansas City. Using the diluted drugs on a patient would delay pain relief but would probably not be life-threatening, said Gregg Minion, emergency department director at Research Medical Center.
Patty Gentrup, city administrator in Liberty, Mo., said test results showed that morphine and Demerol kept on the city's three ambulances had been diluted. Some of the vials contained only saline. FBI spokesman Jeff Lanza said agents planned to meet Thursday with officials in the communities of Claycomo and Pleasant Valley about testing drugs seized from their ambulances.
Paramedic Craig Starr, who worked for all three cities involved, was released from his job in Liberty and suspended in Claycomo and Pleasant Valley earlier this week, pending the outcome of the investigation.Liberty fire chief Rich Lehmann lost his job Tuesday, Gentrup said. Calls to Lehmann's home Wednesday were not returned, and Starr's number was not listed.
Lanza said investigators had not determined whether any diluted drugs were administered to patients, how much of the supply of emergency painkillers was tampered with or when the diluting began. But he added that the investigation would go back at least six months.We are working under the assumption that diluted drugs were administered to patients on multiple occasions," Lanza said.
Liberty tested the drugs late last year after some employees complained that co-workers were not keeping proper records about the drugs' use and disposal, Gentrup said.
Tampering with any controlled substance or over-the-counter product is a federal offense.
Last month, former Kansas City pharmacist Robert Courtney was sentenced to 30 years in prison for diluting chemotherapy medications for profit.
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