Travel nurse stole fentanyl 143 times from N.J. hospital, feds say

A travel nurse from Florida was arrested Wednesday after he allegedly stole fentanyl from a New Jersey hospital, federal prosecutors said.

From Jan. 22 through Feb. 14, while David L. Shaeffer, 35, of St. Petersburg, was employed as a nurse in the Interventional Radiology Unit of the unidentified hospital and stole vials of fentanyl at least 143 times, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of New Jersey.

Shaeffer took the vials from the hospital’s automated medication dispensing cabinets by using an override in the system to bypass a usually-required doctor’s order, the office said.

He would then prescribe the fentanyl himself to a specified patient even though he was not authorized to do so, investigators said. There were also times when he would simply dispose of the fentanyl.

On Feb. 14, the hospital fired him after an internal investigation revealed that he stole hundreds of 100mcg/2mL vials of liquid fentanyl, according to criminal complaint.

Detectives also discovered that he fraudulently obtained fentanyl in a similar way while employed as a nurse in hospitals in Florida and Pennsylvania, the office said.

Shaeffer was charged with unlawfully acquiring or obtaining controlled substances by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception and subterfuge, the release stated. He appeared in Tampa federal court, and was released on $50,000 bond.