News
Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 29, 2005
Contact: Joanna Zoltay
Number: 312-886-2597
Fentanyl
Replaced With Saline Solution During Surgical Procedures
Nurse Surrenders to US Marshal Service For Product
Tampering
NOV
29 -- (Merrillville, IN) – Nanette J. Eichenberger,
a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), was arrested November 20, 2006
on federal charges of product tampering and obtaining a Schedule
II controlled substance by fraud and deception. Eichenberger was
the subject of a joint investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI). The joint investigation revealed that Eichenberger
substituted fentanyl, a narcotic used as an anesthetic in surgery,
for saline in syringes prepared for medical procedures at her place
of employment as a LPN. She is alleged to have injected herself with
fentanyl and allowed unwitting patients to receive saline instead
of the fentanyl during surgical procedures.
“It
is unfathomable that a person in a position of trust, as Ms. Eichenberger
was, would put the well being of patients in jeopardy to satisfy her
drug addiction,” stated Gary G. Olenkiewicz, Special Agent in
Charge of the DEA Chicago Field Division. “The DEA is proud to
have been in a partnership with the FDA and FBI during this investigation.
Eichenberger’s
arrest prevents her from any future diversion of controlled substances
from the medical office where she was employed. The diversion of controlled
substances is handled by Investigators from the DEA’s Diversion
Group. Diversion Investigators work cases that involve, but are not
limited to, physicians who sell prescriptions to drug dealers or abusers,
pharmacists who falsify records and subsequently sell the drugs, employees
who steal from inventory and falsify orders to cover illicit sales,
prescription forgers, and individuals who commit armed robbery of pharmacies
and drug distributors.
The case is being
prosecuted out of the Northern District of Indiana by Assistant U.S.
Attorney Diane Berkowitz.
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