A nurse from Forsyth Medical Center in North Carolina has been accused of stealing the opioid drug Fentanyl, allegedly for her personal use.
Hayley Lammon Brown, 28, from the town of Elkin was arrested on Monday, Dec. 18, and charged with one count of embezzlement of a controlled substance by employee and one misdemeanor count of assault on a law enforcement officer, according to the
North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
The Elkin Police Department went to Brown’s home on April 20, in response to a call about a possible drug overdose involving her husband, Matthew Brown.
Sergeant Joseph Johnson was exposed to the drug through his bare hands during the investigation and required hospitalization. He has since made a complete recovery.
“Fentanyl is a very potent drug, more potent than heroin, 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine and the cause of nearly half of fatal drug overdoses,” said John Keane, special agent in charge of the SBI’s Diversion and Environmental Crimes Unit.
“Breaking an addiction to fentanyl is a steep uphill battle, and the SBI, along with many other agencies, urge the utmost caution to consumers who are prescribed pain killers by their doctors.”
Brown has since been released on a $5,000 bond.
“It’s definitely more potent when it’s ingested or shot up through syringes,” Captain Tara Tucker with Forsyth County EMS told CBS affiliate
WFMY-TV. “Physical contact is a lower risk factor, but as first responders people should be wearing their gloves when they’re going into those types of scenes.”
According to
Fox News, Novant Health released a statement Tuesday morning that read: “Novant Health takes any allegation of illegal activity very seriously. We are cooperating fully with the investigation. While it is corporate policy not to comment on investigations in progress, you can be assured that if illegal activity is discovered, we will assist the authorities in prosecuting offenders and take any appropriate steps to prevent the reoccurence.”
