Nurse Asked to Buy My Vicodin
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Anyone besides him? I'm not going to do an exhaustive investigation into him, because it's pretty irrelevant to anything I've said about OP's situation, but the link I read stated that he had a DEA stamp pad and prescription forging. It sounds like the investigating had nothing to do with a purely innocent man.0
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It also said that he used undated prescriptions taken from his doctor's office. You can't use the case of someone who committed illegal actions to back your claims that scores of innocent people are being busted.0
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It also said that he used undated prescriptions taken from his doctor's office. You can't use the case of someone who committed illegal actions to back your claims that scores of innocent people are being busted.
"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Richard Paey is a Florida man who was incarcerated in 2004 for drug trafficking. There was no evidence he ever distributed or intended to sell any pills, but drug laws in many states, including Florida, allow officials to prosecute for trafficking based solely on the quantity an individual possesses. Paey spent three and a half years in prison, until he was granted a full pardon by Florida Governor Charlie Crist in September 2007."0 -
I'm not sure how that backs your claim that he was innocent.0
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I don't believe a pardon is a wrongful imprisonment; it's forgiveness for a committed crime and eliminating further penalty.0
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Also, everything I've read states that his legal problems began with the pharmacy (either pharmacists contacting the police or the police keeping an eye on pharmacy traffic, there's conflicting statements), not with the nurse or doctor. But even the articles supporting him don't hide that he asked for undated prescriptions from a former doctor. He's not innocent, he was guilty.0
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Finally, he was offered plea bargains he didn't take and was not just convicted on trafficking, which it looks like he took part in, as he actively illegally obtained medication. I read he was also convicted on forgery and illegal possession. Which again, he looks to be guilty of. And how he got discovered is a far cry from a private conversation between a doctor or nurse and patient.0
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Re: Richard PaeyAlso, everything I've read states that his legal problems began with the pharmacy (either pharmacists contacting the police or the police keeping an eye on pharmacy traffic, there's conflicting statements), not with the nurse or doctor. But even the articles supporting him don't hide that he asked for undated prescriptions from a former doctor. He's not innocent, he was guilty.
Then you need to read all the details of that case again...
"October 24, 2005, 8:37 a.m.
Sick
A Florida paraplegic needs relief.
By Radley Balko
Today, Richard Paey sits in a wheelchair behind high walls and razor wire in a high-security prison near Daytona Beach. Paey is a 46-year-old father of three, and a paraplegic. His condition is the result of a car accident, a botched back surgery, and a case of multiple sclerosis — three setbacks that have left him in a chronic, debilitating state of pain. After moving to Florida from New Jersey, Paey found it increasingly difficult to get prescriptions for the pain medication he needed to function normally — to support his family, and to be a parent to his children.
Paey's difficulties finding treatment were in large part due to federal- and state-government efforts to prevent the illegal use — or "diversion," as the feds call it — of prescription pain medicine. Doctors today face fines ,suspension, the loss of license or practice, the seizure of property, or even prison time in the event that drug cops (most of whom have no medical training) decide they are prescribing too many painkillers. As a result, physicians are understandably apprehensive about aggressively treating pain.
Like many pain patients, Paey found himself on the blunt end of such policies. He went from doctor to doctor, looking for someone to give him the medication he needed. By the time he eventually turned to his old New Jersey doctor for help, he had already attracted the attention of Florida drug-control authorities. What happened next is disputed, but it ended with Paey getting arrested, getting his home raided, and eventually getting convicted of drug distribution.
Paey insists his old doctor wrote him the prescriptions he needed. The Florida pharmacists who testified at his trial back him up. But the doctor says he forged the prescriptions. For his part, Paey holds no animus against his former doctor. Cops gave the doctor a devil's bargain — give Paey up, or face 25-years-to-life imprisonment for the excessive proscribing of painkillers. Paey still maintains the prescriptions were legitimate, but understands why his doctor turned against him.
The larger issue, of course, is why a man who is clearly not an addict (he wasn't taking the medication to get high) and had a legitimate use for the medication wasn't given access to what he needed in the first place.
State prosecutors concede there's no evidence Paey ever sold or gave his medication away. Nevertheless, under draconian drug-war statutes, these prosecutors could pursue distribution charges against him based solely on the amount of medication he possessed (the unauthorized possession of as few as 60 tablets of some pain medications can qualify a person as a "drug trafficker").
After three trials, Richard Paey was convicted and put in prison for 25 years, effectively a life sentence for someone in his condition. Ironically, the state of Florida now pays for a morphine pump connected to Paey's spine which delivers the same class of medication at the same doses the state of Florida told him wasn't necessary, and put him in prison for trying to obtain.
Prosecutors originally offered Paey a plea bargain that would have helped him avoid jail time, but Paey refused, insisting that (a) he did nothing wrong, and (b) even if he had, it shouldn't be a crime to seek relief from chronic pain. Paey feared that a plea would make other doctors in the state more reluctant to treat pain than they already were.
Publicly, Paey's prosecutors have conceded that the 25-year sentence was excessive, yet they insist that Paey himself is to blame, citing his refusal to accept a plea agreement. The chilling implication: Paey is serving prison time for drug distribution not because he's guilty of actually distributing drugs — the state admits as much — but because he insisted on exercising his constitutionally-protected right to a jury trial.
Earlier this year, New York Times columnist John Tierney flew to Florida to interview Paey for a story that ran on July 19. Tierney's column was sympathetic to Paey's plight, and sharply critical of the state of Florida."0 -
Quoting an article sympathizing with the man isn't evidence. You still haven't proven that his doctor or nurse turned him in. You telling people that they should lie to providers to avoid a home raid is fearmongering and more likely to result in someone getting ineffective treatment than protecting someone from getting their homes raided. (Edit: Addressed the source of the report in my next post after reading the appeal submitted by his attorney.)
He went to a pharmacy and obtained 1200 pills in a short period of time. Your article states the facts are in dispute. He turned in undated prescriptions and had forging equipment in his possession. (At least according to one source. I'm not going to read the trial transcripts, but you can post them if you wish.) He was found guilty by a jury of his peers. If they believed him to be innocent, they would have found him so. His sentence wasn't overturned--it was pardoned. Again, you haven't provided any evidence that he was innocent, just that he was a sympathetic character.
His word isn't enough for me. A guilty man stating "I didn't do it?" It wouldn't be the first time.0 -
Also, all these sympathetic articles ignore that he was NOT just convicted for trafficking. He was convicted in two separate trials of charges including trafficking but also including possession and fraud/forgery.0
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Reported her. If she is taking them herself she could be jeopardizing patients and you could both get in trouble for selling them to her. Depending on your state and the prosecutor, it could even be a felony.
So not worth it.
This^0 -
Is her name Jackie?
JK. In all seriousness, report her. This may be what she needs to get help. Trust me, I know from experience.0 -
I was going to say sell them to her, but no. If could be a set up and could land you in jail. Just report her. She should be asking patients to buy their medication anyway. That is so not professional and only makes her look like an addict!0
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http://www.aapsonline.org/painman/paeyappeal.pdf
According to this, a pharmacist contacted the police based on suspicious activity. As evidence was found in his home (blank prescription pad, among others), and they obtained probable cause through investigating and interviewing before getting their search warrant, the police did not do anything wrong. I'd like to see you address the fact that he had blank prescription pads. As a graduate of law school, I would laugh myself silly if you try to say he didn't know that's illegal. It also lends credence to a pharmacist turning him in--if he was submitting iffy prescriptions, a pharmacist isn't obligated to protect that because the person is attempting to involve the pharmacy in a crime. If I told my doctor I was addicted to crack, he can't do anything about it unless I'm endangering children or tell him I am about to harm someone or myself. If I go to the pharmacist and ask her to fill some crack, she can call the police. He also didn't speak to the police or present much of a defense, according to this appeal.
Attempting to fill postdated prescriptions is not legal. Again, a law school graduate should know this. Having blank prescription pads that belong to a doctor and it's not you is illegal. I'd like to see you address this evidence, because I'm not sure how it makes him innocent.
This is a long debate that began because you implied OP is at risk by saying she got rid of a single bottle of Vicodin. Can't you see, that regardless of our views on this particular man's guilt or innocence, filling the equivalent of 1200 pills at multiple pharmacies is a lot more suspicious than a single patient getting rid of a single bottle of meds that aren't working for her? You are supposed to dispose of pills that you don't need anymore. OP would have a whopping law suit if she were to be raided or even reported for this. Richard Paey's circumstances and actions are in completely different ballpark than OP's situation.0 -
Report her.
I am a nurse and I'd have reported her butt. giving good nurses a bad name0 -
I'm also done with this debate unless you address the points I've raised directly, instead of quoting articles from sympathizers who are leaving out relevant facts. What these writers really want is jury nullification (finding someone innocent despite being guilty because you don't want them punished.) I'm not arguing he's not a sympathetic character. He probably could have found some compassion if he had cooperated with the investigation, but he has the legal right not to. Of course, that leaves him subject to a jury of his peers, who found him guilty. The juror stating that he thought he would get probation doesn't imply he thought he was innocent. If he did, that's what he would have voted. It implies he felt bad for the man. I do as well. But he was guilty and not an example of an innocent man falsely accused.
Done for the night, anyway. Hopefully I'm not appearing snarky to you; it's nothing personal, but you and I obviously disagree on our interpretations of the law.0 -
I would definitely report it0
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Nurse should be reported, no one should be offering to buy opiates back from the patient.
A terrible budget cut could result in the demise of a reporting system where a person's drug history for narcotics can be tracked. We use it in the psych hospital where i work whenever we suspect a person of abuse. These drugs can only end up in abuse. Other forms of pain relief are more effective and not as addicting. Long term use of opiates, alcohol, benzos and other drugs will eventually result in an early death, often from accidental overdose.0 -
Reported her. If she is taking them herself she could be jeopardizing patients and you could both get in trouble for selling them to her. Depending on your state and the prosecutor, it could even be a felony.
So not worth it.
This. Report her ASAP.0 -
^^^I was most surprised at the person who claimed to be working in a pharmacy and said to give her 2 weeks and then turn her in. Do you realize how many people could be affected in 2 weeks?
I was responding to the OP's reluctance to report this nurse for fear of hurting her career. As a fellow pharmacist, you should know as well as I do that the consequences of being reported for a drug-related offense (and convicted) would be the loss of her job and license for sure. If the OP is unwilling to report her because they don't want to do that to her, I was offering a solution that at least would be better than doing nothing, and would allow the nurse to actually get help and maybe recover. Sure, of course, the best thing to do from a legal standpoint would be to just report her immediately, I'm not saying otherwise. But reporting her at all in a way that is acceptable to the OP would be better than just letting her continue, so that's why I made the suggestion I did.0 -
I would have kindly said no or pretended I didn't hear her or thought she was joking, and then reported her.0
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WoW!
I am a practicing RN who was taking Lortab for a Staph infection recently...although I wasn't at work while I was taking it.
Does this make me a drug addict too?
I paid about $10 for a whole bottle of them!0 -
I have 4 degenerated discs in my lower back and am on pretty heavy opiates for the pain. Last month, my doc gave me some 10mg vicodin for breakthrough pain I've been having from exercising. I went to the doc for the monthly checkup on Wednesday and the nurse asked how the vicodin was working. I said it really wasn't, so I stopped taking it. She then asked me if she could buy the leftovers from me. I was SHOCKED. I couldn't believe she was asking me this.
What would you have done in this situation?
Did you sell?.............I smell undercover...0 -
I am a nurse at that is reprehensible. Report her immediately. She may be a hazard to her patients.0
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personally before you report her, it might be nice to confront her about the problem. maybe she has an addiction, or maybe there is some other reason.
would be pretty crap to possibly ruin someones life over an assumption.
She asked to buy the drugs, where's the assumption. It is illegal no matter the reason. Where's the assumption? Fact is I report her and ask to not ever be treated by her again. My health is a pretty important thing to me and I don't like thinking of any person even remotely in charge of my care being impaired.0 -
WoW!
I am a practicing RN who was taking Lortab for a Staph infection recently...although I wasn't at work while I was taking it.
Does this make me a drug addict too?
I paid about $10 for a whole bottle of them!
Did you obtain them illegally?
No, taking something doesn't make you an addict, obtaining prescription drugs legally is unethical, and asking a patient for their prescription is strange and suspect behavior. I would think that most people wouldn't just start asking patents with whom they are unfamiliar for their pills. To me such brazen behavior carries the stink of desperation, doesn't matter the reason. Personal use, recreational use, sell to someone else to make a quick couple of bones . . . it's still wrong.0 -
btw - off topic, but GO BLUE!0
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WoW!
I am a practicing RN who was taking Lortab for a Staph infection recently...although I wasn't at work while I was taking it.
Does this make me a drug addict too?
I paid about $10 for a whole bottle of them!
Drug addicts take mind altering substances to get high. If you find yourself doctor shopping, writing fake scripts, stealing from the med cabs, etc. then you might be an addict. This thread has nothing to do with calling all nurses who take vicodin "addicts." It's about a nurse that asked a patient if she could buy his, which is illegal and drug addict behavior.0 -
I don't like to get involved with reports and police and all that. I'd take the low road and just say no. But I'd never sell. It's illegal and there's always the vague possibility it could be tracked back to you! If you do decide to sell, make sure to give the nurse the pills in a baggie so the popos can't read your name off the label on the bottle.0
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Quoting an article sympathizing with the man isn't evidence. You still haven't proven that his doctor or nurse turned him in. You telling people that they should lie to providers to avoid a home raid is fearmongering and more likely to result in someone getting ineffective treatment than protecting someone from getting their homes raided. (Edit: Addressed the source of the report in my next post after reading the appeal submitted by his attorney.)
He went to a pharmacy and obtained 1200 pills in a short period of time. Your article states the facts are in dispute. He turned in undated prescriptions and had forging equipment in his possession. (At least according to one source. I'm not going to read the trial transcripts, but you can post them if you wish.) He was found guilty by a jury of his peers. If they believed him to be innocent, they would have found him so. His sentence wasn't overturned--it was pardoned. Again, you haven't provided any evidence that he was innocent, just that he was a sympathetic character.
His word isn't enough for me. A guilty man stating "I didn't do it?" It wouldn't be the first time.
His word was not good enough for the police either. The man (Richard Paey) had prescriptions from a New Jersey doctor...((The pharmacy contacted the Dr's office each time Mr Paey came in. The pharmacy was told each time by the Dr's office that it was okay to fill the prescriptions))...HOWEVER when the narcotics people jumped down on the New Jersey doctor for (over?) prescribing...The Doctor said that those prescriptions were forged.... Richard Paey went to jail in a wheelchair! :frown:
PS...Saying that you have no extra pills to a nurse who is trying to illegally buy your medicine is not lying!0
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