Thursday, July 26, 2007

St. Vincent Feeling The Pain Of Its Own Pills

St. Vincent Hospital can't keep track of its prescription painkillers so it must pay a $2 million fine to the government. The Star reports the hospital lost track of 623,843 tablets of hydrocodone from its clinic pharmacy in Indianapolis according to an FDA audit. As a painkiller, hydrocodone is as powerful as morphine. U.S. Attorney Susan Brooks made the announcement on behalf of the government. She's had a lot of press conferences during her tenure announcing prosecutions of small-time drug dealers. I wonder if she's in the least bit curious what happened to all those pills. Or will that part of the story end the same way the investigation of Colts' owner Jim Irsay's abuse of prescription painkillers ended?

UPDATE: Don't you love it when the Star leaves out the most important information when it posts online in advance of a story? It turns out a former pharmacy employee was stealing the pills so her son could sell them on the street. Today's Star story reads, in part:

During more than two years, a hospital pharmacy clerk stole 623,843 tablets of hydrocodone without being detected by the hospital, federal officials said. She gave the drugs to her adult son for sale on the street, they said.

A local drug task force investigating the son's activities tracked the pills to the pharmacy at the hospital's outpatient clinic for low-income and uninsured patients, federal officials said Thursday. . .

The pharmacy technician, Dianne Hauss, and her supervisor were fired, Smith said. Hauss and her son Mark Hauss were convicted of federal conspiracy to distribute a Schedule C controlled substance and sentenced in February.

17 comments:

Wilson46201 said...

Was Rush Limbaugh ever seen around St. Vincent?

Anonymous said...

No, but Al Gore's son was.

Wilson46201 said...

Was that before or after Noelle Bush (Jeb's daughter) was seen?

Anonymous said...

It was before Mrs. Dukakis.

And with that, you jackass, we could go back and forth all day long. PEOPLE, regardless of party have problems. So keep tossing out names of all the Republicans you want. I thought the dems were supposed to be supportive, but I see that only works for their own kind, not people of any political party.

Unbelievable. Tell me, is it difficult to be SO PERFECT?

Anonymous said...

Leave it to Wilson Allen to point out that a Republican was addicted to painkillers!
Want to start a list of Democrat drug/alcohol addicted?
I thought Dems liked dependent drug addicts who use their addiction to gain symapathy!

Yes, Wilson IS perfect!!!! A perfect moron who uses his trash picking abilities to make hiself feel important.
Since he can't find anything good to say about Dems.., he bashes repubs..

Wilson46201 said...

Rush Limbaugh is a loudmouthed pillhead who endlessly called to get real tough on dopers - the word most often used is HYPOCRITE. Maybe if he had ever shown concern for those like him addicted to narcotics, people wouldnt be sneering at him.

Anonymous said...

I'm a Democrat who doesn't sneer at Rush Limbaugh. I admire his tactics, and his ability to single-handedly distort news into his own agenda, which parallels W's perfectly.

I listen to him once or twice a week, to make sure my views are well-grounded.

They are.

That said, I'd not make fun of someone else's infirmities. There but for the Grace of God go I...

Yeah, he is a hypocrite. So? He's a hypocrite who's reaches 14 million people a day.

It'd pay to listen to him sometimes instead of knee-jerk reacting to him.

I learn something every time I listen to him.

Anonymous said...

And Irsays drug addiction didn't really exist? He was a "Dr. Shopper" Several different Drs. writing the scripts for him, going to different pharmacies.
What about the Kenady family? Killing people in a drunk driving "accidents", raping women because they know they'll get away with with because of the name,etc...
How are they som much better?
Oh, they're Democrats!!!

Want some skeletons brought out from Julia's closet???? Pictures speak a lot of words.

Anonymous said...

And don't forget about RFK, Jr. and Congressman Patrick Kennedy...oh, and didn't Obama do a little blow?

garyj said...

Wilson, do you sit in front of your computer ALL DAY? Get a life, man. You post on here and relpy to the "anonymous nobodies" (as you calll them) falling right into their trap and lowering yourself to the level of Bart!
And quit posting anonymously on Indyu! Use your real name there as well.

Anonymous said...

I can never begin to imagine what private hell some people go through every day of their life.

Now, back to the post! When I heard this story on the news, I thought the same thing as you Gary, where did all those pills end up? Here in Indy? Were the shipped out? This is very troublesome.

Wilson46201 said...

I have never ever posted to IndyU ... never!

Anonymous said...

Maybe it's your evil twin then. I agree with 7:52, this thread really doesn't have much to do with politics. I don't like Rush Limbaugh, but for every one or two of him you can name a few looped out Democrats. What's the point?

Anonymous said...

Gary said, “UPDATE: Don't you love it when the Star leaves out the most important information when it posts online in advance of a story?”

Huh, Gary, as you said the Star was posting online in advance of a story. That’s a marketing tool not intentional disregard for reporting the whole story. In fact, the Star’s online post you are hypocritically blasting clearly said, “This story will be updated in Friday's Star.”

Gary R. Welsh said...

Thanks, Kay. Glad your morning is off to a good start. You have a nice day now.

Anonymous said...

Pill Popping Aside, Yes I too admire Rush Limbaugh, especially because of the way he treats women, they likely deserve it.

But what I most admire about Rush Limbaugh is his ability to find humor and mock people with terminal diseases.

Yes, that's a real compassionate man who mocks the sick.

And I also like how is smart enough to avoid military duty by having a boil on his butt.

A real class act he is.

Anonymous said...

Oh, you are most welcome, Gary.
And may I say I hope you have a nice weekend as well… lame tea dips and all!