Minnesota Nurse Accused of Stealing Patient's Fentanyl Patches

Minneapolis, MNA nurse anesthesiologist in Minneapolis, Minnesota, allegedly stole a patient's Fentanyl patches and forced him to endure a kidney stone surgery without the painkillers, Reuters reports.

span itemprop="image" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject" style="display:block">According to the news provider, 33-year-old Sarah Casareto told authorities that she was dependent on the painkillers after she allegedly stole the patches intended for a patient at Abbot Northwestern Hospital in November.

A felony complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court claimed that Casareto told the patient he was going to have to "man up here and take some of the pain because we can't give you a lot of medication, you're going straight into surgery."

A medical technician told police that Casareto was not able to stay awake during the surgical procedure and that the patient was subjected to an unusual amount of pain. After the surgery, Casareto was reportedly confronted by a nurse manager, refused a drug test and ultimately decided to resign.

According to the Mayo Clinic, fentanyl is a form of narcotic analgesic, which can lead to mental or physical dependence in some cases.