Employee theft has been a problem for as long as there have been employees. When it comes to theft of laptops and important devices, roughly 52% of those items are stolen right from the office or workplace (24% taken from work conferences). But hospitals and medical centers have been dealing with their own employee theft as well, often with much higher stakes.

“They may take what the patient needs,” said Kimberly New, executive director of the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators. New was referring to nurses and other medical professionals stealing controlled substances from healthcare facilities. “Fortunately, public health officials are starting to pay attention to this.”

According to the Democrat and Chronicle, a registered nurse from the University of Rochester Medical Center was charged recently for allegedly stealing medication.

Siobhan Pollock, 34, was charged with criminal impersonation and felony drug possession for posing as a hospital employee and stealing Dilaudid, an extremely powerful opioid painkiller, from the Medical Center.

The Ann Arbor News reports that this issue plagues hospitals across the entire country and can often be difficult to prevent, especially as the opioid epidemic continues to rage.

“Drug diversion is best prevented by health care facilities having strong narcotics security measures and active monitoring systems,” reads a report by the Mayo Clinic. “Appropriate response includes assessment of harm to patients, consultation with public health officials when tampering with injectable medication is suspected, and prompt reporting to enforcement agencies.”

The state attorney general’s office stated that Pollock was recently terminated from Strong Memorial Hospital. Yet Pollock kept her hospital scrubs and returned to the hospital in order to steal the medication.

“We work to ensure that all staff members are fully trained to handle medications appropriately, and to speak up if they see a potential quality or safety issue of any kind,” said Barbara Ficarra, associate director of public relations and communications. “Following this instance, we reviewed with staff that controlled substances should not be handed over from one staff member to another, other than in a true emergency.”

The investigation was conducted by the New York State Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, alongside the Rochester Police Department and the UR Department of Public Safety.