NH Firefighter Spared Jail Time For Drug Theft
A New Hampshire fire lieutenant who was convicted in March of stealing EMS drugs, has been spared incarceration by a Superior Court judge.
Former Rochester Fire Department lieutenant, Donald Penney, 50, was found guilty on 16 of 25 charges against him stemming from the theft of post-transport replacement drugs from Frisbie Memorial Hospital. Penney is reported to have falsely claimed that he used fentanyl and hydromorphone on patients during transports, then accessed replacement drugs through the hospital’s vending machine system and kept them for himself. The incidents occurred between April 2012 and August 2013.
Penney could have been sentenced to 7 ½-15 years in prison and a $4,000 fine on each count. However, numerous firefighters testified on his behalf on June 1, 2016, characterizing him as an excellent firefighter and medic. Some recounted stories of the lives he saved.
Strafford County Superior Court, Judge Steven M. Houran, sentenced Penney to two consecutive 3 year sentences in New Hampshire State Prison. The judge suspended the sentences contingent on Penney remaining on good behavior.
Incidentally, drug theft is one of the 10 major disciplinary problem areas in the fire service. The two most common types of drug theft involve stealing from the EMS system (often taking drugs directly from the med boxes on apparatus), and theft from patients.
It seems that their is a “Flaw” in the accountability of how there Narcotic medications are used and disposed of.
If he documented use of a medication in his paperwork, how was he able to obtain a replacement amount without first turning in his partially/fully used container?
And, if he documented the use, what was the patient follow up?
That is, if he used a small bottle of Fentanyl, ie.
250 mcg per ML/5ML bottle (total 50 mcg per ML/0.05 mg/ML)
Gave a one ML, 50 mcg dosage, where did the bottle with the remaining four dosage of medication go?
And, if he did not give his patient this medication, documented he did and Then the patient received a further dosage (actually their First) what was the effect on the patient?
Or was this a case of his, “Withdrawing up the medication with a syringe, storing it elsewhere and then substituting with Normal Saline?
But the patient still was not medicated initially and then given the medication.
So, its not just stealing the medication, its lying on his Patient Care Reports as well.
“… accessed replacement drugs through the hospital’s vending machine system.”
I have this mental image of a machine in the lounge, next to the candy and soda machines, with a couple of medics standing there, trying to decide between Fentanyl and MS.
“Dammit, Johnny, you got the morphine the last three nights in a row, so howzabout some fentanyl this time?”
“Fine, fine, Roy. Gimme fifty cents”