Maryland Injury Attorney Blog
The Maryland Attorney General’s office issued a press release regarding sentencing in a recent case of nursing home abuse in Northern Maryland. While many nursing home abuse cases involve assault or neglect of a resident, this case involves something we hear less about, but is just as abusive — theft of pain medication from an elderly patient who needed it.
According to Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler, a 34-year-old man from Hagerstown, Md., pled guilty to stealing a Fentanyl pain medication patch from a 94-year-old patient. The perpetrator was employed as a nursing assistant in a Washington County, Maryland nursing home.
Baltimore County nursing home abuse lawyers assist families who believe a loved one may be suffering from abuse or neglect at a Maryland nursing home.
The judge in this Maryland nursing home abuse case handed down a sentence of 3 years incarceration (suspended) and 3 years supervised probation. The perpetrator is not allowed to engage in employment in any nursing home or health care facility. His crime was discovered by a nurse at the facility, who found the patient to be suffering from pain and his pain patch missing.
Video cameras also assisted investigators in identifying the nursing assistant who stole pain medication from a Maryland nursing home resident. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid used in chronic pain management — in cancer patients, for example. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, it is more potent than morphine.
Washington County Nursing Assistant Sentenced for Abuse of a Vulnerable Adult
Attorney General of Maryland Press Release June 29, 2010
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