Gulf Breeze man arrested for pill theft,elder neglect
BY VICI PAPAJOHN Gulf Breeze News vici@gulfbreezenews.com

Asst. Atty. General Dana Morris, right, announced Morgan's arrest last week for allegedly stealing and using patients' drugs.

Gulf Breeze resident William Morgan III was arrested last week by the State Attorney General's office, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Morgan was a registered nurse formerly employed by Sacred Heart Hospital.

Morgan allegedly stole narcotics intended for severe pain patients, and allegedly used the prescription medication to support a personal drug addiction, depriving patients under his care who were suffering from severe hip and joint pain, according to officials. The arrest was carried out by the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit with assistance from the Gulf Breeze Police Department.

Morgan was booked into the Escambia County Jail and was charged with seven counts of elder neglect, five counts of obtaining possession or attempting to obtain possession of controlled substances by deception, and one count of grand theft. If convicted, he could receive up to five years imprisonment and a $5,000 fine per count. The case will be prosecuted by the First Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office.

"It is horrible to think that Morgan took pain medications away from his own patients who were truly suffering, only to perpetuate his own addiction," says Dana Morris, Assistant Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Office of the Attorney General.

The case was referred to the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit by officials with the Department of Health after Morgan's nursing license was suspended for failing a drug test. Morgan admitted after the failed test that he was diverting prescription medication for his own personal use, officials said. The results of the drug test revealed traces of narcotics consistent with medications taken from his patients. The drugs taken by Morgan were classified as having high potential for abuse and physical dependence.

Department of Health records reflected that on May 1, 2006, Morgan removed several doses of controlled substances (Dilaudid, Lortab, Demerol, Morphine and Percocet) from the Acudose cabinet while working his shift. Those medications were intended for use by patients under his care. Morgan personally consumed some, if not all, of the medications according to officials.

According to authorities, on May 4, 2006, a review of the Acudose cabinet records by hospital supervisors discovered the discrepancies in the administration of drugs by Morgan on the subject date. Morgan was confronted with the information and admitted to stealing the medications and to consuming some, if not all of them. A urinalysis returned positive results for Opiates, Morphine, Hydromorphone and Hydrocodone.

The Acudose cabinet is a locked cabinet that secures and controls access to medications, such as controlled substances, through a computer system. Each time a nurse removes a controlled substance from the Acudose cabinet, the computer system records the drug, dose, date, and time. The Acudose computer system also records the name of the intended patient and the name of the nurse removing the drug. In order to accurately record patient care and to accurately account for controlled substances, Sacred Heart Hospital requires a licensed nurse to witness the discard or waste of any dose or partial dose of a controlled substance. The nurse discarding the controlled substance enters the amount discarded in the Acudose computer. The witness also enters his or her name, attesting that he or she observed that the drug was discarded. Drugs that are discarded are called waste in Acudose. In Morgan's case, no record exists documenting the waste of any of the presciption medications at issue.

The DOH report not only claimed that Morgan took medications which were to be used for patients under his care, but that Mr. Morgan removed medications from two patients who were assigned to other nurses.

The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit ("MFCU") exists to investigate Medicaid fraud occurring in the State of Florida under the authority and supervision of the Florida Attorney General.

Bail was posted at $10,000.