Med Theft

Monica Blackwell has been accused of taking prescription painkillers and medication for anxiety and panic disorders from 13 nursing home patients. Blackwell was an agency nurse who admitted to investigators that she stole the medications for her own use, according to the criminal complaint. 

Narcotics agent, Brian Kosoglow, said that the detailed accounts of patients at the two care facilities hold numerous painkillers such as hydrocodone and oxycodone. These medications were removed from the plastic containers but were not recorded in the electronic medical records system. In some cases, doses of oxycodone were taken from a blister pack that were originally prescribed for the patient. 

Blackwell was charged with multiple felony counts including; possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance by a person not registered to prescribe medication, and identity theft. Additionally, Blackwell has been charged with a misdemeanor count of refusing to keep required records of prescription medication. 

According to the complaint, Blackwell had been involved in narcotics discrepancies for eight different patients at Vincentian Home,  a McCandless retirement community. Blackwell worked here from mid November through early December as an agency nurse. At the Grove in North Huntingdon, Blackwell took at least 30 oxycodone tablets from blister packs, as there was no documentation that Blackwell gave them the pills. 

In early March, Blackwell was accused of forging a letter from a UPMC Behavioral Health doctor, ordering her to return to her nursing job with Baldwin Health Center. The complaint stated that patients had complained they had never reviewed their pain pills when Blackwell was their nurse.