Nurse Sarah Casareto Steals Patient's Anesthetic During Kidney Surgery, Tells Him to Man Up Instead

•  When a male patient came in to have kidney stones removed, rather than administer a powerful anesthetic that should have rendered the procedure painless, nurse Sarah May Casareto told him she couldn't give him the drugs. "You're going to have to man up here," she told him, according to cops. Yeesh! ..

• thing is, don't they factor in the patient's weight into the equation? as in how much to give him or her.

• The pain medication is typically administered before anything else happens. Doctors are not always in the room for this step. Typically are, but not always. Also of note, fentanyl typically is administered through a patch. Looks like a bandaid you put on the skin.  So there may have not been any injection at all.

• Fentanyl can literally stop your heart if you are given to much. The doctor and other people in the room were told he was given 500mg of it.  That's a huge dosage.  And as a doctor, you're not going to think "gee my nurse is stealing the pain medication". 99.9 percent of nurses out there would never do such a thing. So no, no one else in that room was at fault. Some patients simply do not respond to medications. Which I am quite sure was the doctors belief. And once a procedure has started, it's never a good idea to stop in the middle.

• This is a problem that needs to seriously be addressed in the industry. It hurts to say that my wife was a nurse who had an addiction to pain killers and was using at work . Thats where they get their drugs , and you dont think they will do them when they get them? Come on! God rest her soul. Yes she died from an OD and yes she was using Fentanyl, dont be fooled this is a problem . Maybe someday I will find peace.

• I am an IR nurse. First off, this kind of procedure is done under conscious sedation. Patient are not put all the way under. Often they are awake and given enough drugs to keep them comfortable and sleepy. You would never give 500 mcg of fentanyl all at once during any IR procedure because you don't have a secure airway if they stop breathing. You start with anywhere between 50-100mcg and titrate up as needed. And no, you would not restain a patient for pain issues, you would stop the procedure and address the pain with more local anestetic and narcotics and continue once that patient could tolerate the procedure. Don't just blindly believe everything you read. There is far more going on with this story then is being told.

• But this was something that should have mauled her soul. how come she did this? She is someone who does kind of an ethical and helpful job? Is the small pay she gets responsible?

• With this I can understand one thing and that is nursing job is really tough. There are n number of things to remember and take care of. But she did wrong.

• I wonder that many more things will be out. She had that kind of nature and she might have stolen other things as well.

• I am so sorry that there are nurses like that in the system, they give random drug test to truck driver why not nurses? I have medical condition that requires me to take pain med daily. Sometime I have had people ask for one of them and I ask what hurts and they said they just want to get high. All the years I have taken them I have never gotten "high". all it does is help with the pain a little, and then sometimes not much. What does pain med do for somepeople thatakes them want to take it for reason other than the intended one. By the way I have never given anyone a pain med to get high, too scared I would get in trouble. Have a nice day to all

• This guy should sue the nurse, sue the hospital, and sue the doctor who continued the operation when he knew this guy was in pain. He should sue, sue sue.

• First of all.....Avoid hospitals AT ALL COSTS. Eat right, exercise, watch your weight, take vitamins....whatever it takes. Sure there are some really good nurses and really good doctors out there, but unless you're at a major research and/or teaching hospital, you're very likely going to be treated based on the amount of insurance you have. A member of my family recently went through a very devasting 2 year long illness...multiple hospitalizations and a nursing home. The nursing home was a horrid experience, and the hospitals not much better. If my family member's spouse wasn't a registered nurse, I have a feeling he would have died earlier on in the ordeal. The way things are today, family members MUST be an advocate for sick loved ones. Otherwise, they (the patient) will very likely fall through the cracks (ESPECIALLY at a nursing home) Okay, off my soapbox..... Oh yeah, my second point....If this had been me, I would OWN her and the hospital. I'm not a big believer in lawsuits, but this is one of those times it's warranted, especially in the case of the nurse.

• They should have fired her on the spot. What I'd like to know is why the doctors didn't pick up on the fact that she was high and do something about the man on the table,besides consider restraints.

• They shouldn't have even thought about "restraint". They also should not have just let her resign!!

• LOL, I guess she will now have plenty of time to "Woman Up" lol. anon-toolz.edu.tc

• I went to drug rehab with a twerp who was a fentanyl addict. First time I have ever heard from that. Twerp (we did not like each other) basically stole his suppily and his license was probably suspended. I was an addict myself and know that feeling of being mentally and physically gnawed by your body for that certain chemical. Like the story said, fentanyl is an opiate much stronger than even heroin. I hope that patient sues the hospital and especially that nurse. "Man up" my ass. How many times has she done this in the past. Felony. No license, no job, go to jail for five years and be expected to give your home and assets away to the man you tortured when you get out of the can. If I was that patient, I would want nothing less.

• I said the evil nurse should be given 150 micrograms of fentanyl and then operated in afterward." Of course, I meant, that the monster "should be operated ON afterward." And, here is a correction for: Nic emt-p. You wrote, "Patients are also typically given "a sedative-like Versed" immediately prior to surgery and yes it can occationally (sic) cause some people to have an adverse reaction." "Occationally" (sic) is spelled wrong. It is "occasionally." And, I agree with everything you said!

• Although the evil nurse who committed this horrendous act was not the only medical person in attendance, we must keep in mind that the other medical people believed that he had the entire 500 micrograms of fentanyl in his system. Subsequently, they would be afraid to give him more pain medicine as that could have killed him. Also, they could not give him other pain medicines because he could have died from mixing pain medicines. They should have stopped the surgery, and run a battery of tests, including the levels of all medicines in his system. They would have known when the tests came back that he did not have the right amount of fentanyl in his system. Then they could have started an investigation, following the trail of all who had access to the patient's medicine. This is truly horrific! I suffer with chronic pain, and I just cannot imagine the pain he was in. That nurse is truly evil and should be given 150 micrograms of fentanyl, and operated in afterward. Then she would know how that patient felt. But, this is the USA, where we are "civilized" in our punishments.

• Fentanyl is not considered an anesthetic in the strictest definition of the word. An anesthetic may numb consciousness or sensation. Fentanyl (which is an opioid a hundred times more potent than morphine) is used as a pain killer for acute pain (surgery) or chronic pain (cancer). It can be used by itself for some surgical procedures but it makes more sense to combine it with some other drugs that have other functions. One hundred and fifty micrograms is adequate for the average patient as a loading dose. However, individual tolerance may vary. With this dose, some might zonk out, while others may look at you with wide-awake eyes. Usually medical professionals who handle these kinds of drugs are screened to check their emotional and psychological state. It is frightening to think that this might not be the first time. There might have been other patients who had fallen asleep at a hundred micrograms, so this nurse had been accustomed to putting away the rest for herself. If she took the rest of it (three hundred and fifty) without even falling asleep, she must already have a high tolerance for the drug, meaning she's been on it for quite some time. So sad that the patient had to do the reporting.

• I'm so sorry, Doug. It's messed up what happened to your sister. But you told them something wasn't right, so even though they didn't listen, you still did the right thing. God bless.

• I can't even imagine the pain the man was in. That had to be horrible & for a nurse to just sit & watch. Wonder if he will win some money, I hope so.

• @TrUeCriMeLoVer, write a book. I don't get it?

• The hospital didn't call the cops because they don't want sued and they don't want the publicity. Simple as that....

• I went to school with Sarah and while she was rough around the edges I am absolutely shock! How did they not stop the survey and call law enforcement to ensure she took a drug test?

• CT I agree with you if he was in that much pain some other form of precaution should have been taken. I can't believe she told this man to "man up" what a waxy faced bitch!

• If the nurse was all fucked up and unable to assist I dont get why the doctor didnt say or do anything...is it usual at this place for the nurses to get messed up on patients pain meds...who knows who long shit like that had been going on...sucks a patient had to be the one to report after a painful ordeal...and also If ever there was a drug I would be into it would be morphine. Its the greatest...I had it when II was in the hospital a little over a year ago and when it started hitting me I was like I totally get why people get addicted to this shit...But Im not a druggie person so it does me no good...I like being sharp and sober.

• why don't you just write a book Annie? j/k...you make some good points

• @Tiera, speaking of that high, I never understood why people like or want it. I hated it! I hated how it made me feel, my vision was weird & my limbs always felt wonky. Not that I could really walk after the first 2 weeks in due to atrophy but the short time I could, SHIT! Then there was the hours that I never remembered & friends asked that I have my cell taken away, kind of like drunk dialing/texting except I was high as a kite & nobody could understand a damn thing I said. Several people said I often spoke about painting the lawn furniture red & white for a University of GA at Athens (UGA) theme. Then there was the fucked up facebooking, that was fun to read later. it was just basically letters put together that made no sense & I did not seem to know how to use the space bar. But I've never understood why people want that detached feeling. I guess that is one of the reasons I never drank or did drugs, unlike most of my family.

• God damn that's dumb. I'm a nurse and I can tell you that there is no freaking way you could get away with taking fentanyl on the job and NOT get caught. Synthetic opioids are ridiculously powerful and healthcare professionals are trained to spot that type of behavior. Congratulations, you just lost your nursing license for a roughly 2 hr high.

• Fentanyl is a synthetic opiate analgesic (pain killer) not an anaesthetic. And this is the typical route junkies in medical environments take, inject themselves first, then inject the pt with the same needle - wouldn't want to pick up and nasties by injecting the pt first would we? It is the cause of multiple cases where a doctor has spread Hep C (for example) to his patients.

• @Doug, I am so sorry. Did you ever report the nurse to anyone? @-1 Nic emt-p, I am in completely & totally agree with your last statement...'report suspected staff, even if you just have that something isn't right kind of feeling. Trust your judgement, there is probably a reason.' It is so troubling the things some 'professionals' are able to get away with. I spent 5 months in the hospital, more than 75% of that time I was drugged out of my mind & really noting more than a babbling drool factory drugged up on fentanyl & diladid. Later I was told of a couple instances one of most frequent visitors noticed. As well, a few weeks before I was released, something I witnessed done to a roommate. I don't know if any of those complaints were ever addressed, much less looked into. We did complain. I did so to the night duty nurse, the day duty nurse & the hospital advocate. Roomie was not in the mind to do so for herself as she was in end stage of her cancer & was not often conscious. Of all I went through in those long months of hospitalization, being in the room when she died was the most horrific. It was hearing her last breathes. She was all alone, I was not supposed to be out of my bed, but I could not stand the thought of her being alone at the end. I always thought they put patients in a private room when they are so near the end. But she went much quicker then expected. I sat near her talking to her about the must mundane things that came to mind, holding her little hand (she still had such lovely nails, her daughter painted them every few days), I eventually fell asleep. I actually did this a few different nights & was usually awakened by the night tech taking vitals. That night thought, for several hours, her breathing pattern did not sound right & I had been hearing it for nearly 3 weeks, so I was familiar with it. I was told I was hearing things & my drugs were probably messing with my thinking. But that early morning, I was awakened when her monitors went off. I think someone told the daughter I was with her Mom when she passed because about 10 days later I received flowers with a simple note that said, Thank you & the daughters name was signed. I got off my story, point was, it is scary what goes on in those places. If you think something is wrong, trust what your gut. Speaking as someone who has passed many, many kidney stones, those fuckers are PAINFUL! I have also had 3 surgeries to remove stones that would not pass on their own, one surgery had 4 removed at one time. Having been through child birth, I tell men that have had kidney stones that it is the closest they can come to understanding the pain associated with giving birth. This poor guy. First the pain of that stone too stubborn to pass on its own, then to have the pain of not being appropriately drugged. I can't believe the hospital allowed Nurse Ratchet to resign as the possibility of stronger liability may be on the hospital for not taking appropriate measures and firing her. By resigning she is able to be employed by other medical providers & that is a very frightening thought.

• This story is horrible and the nurse needs to go to jail as well as her nursing license be permanently revoked. I do want to clarify a couple of points to "Tower" first...opiates ARE given during surgery for anesthesia (which is by defination a pain killer) that is what anesthetics do. There are different classes of anesthetics that act in different ways on the body. In surgery, patients are typically given opiates and some drugs called paralytics which keep the patient from moving. Patients are also typically given "a sedative-like Versed" immediately prior to surgery and yes it can occationally cause some people to have an adverse reaction. The patient must be given at least the paralytic and the opiates when having "general anethesia". Some types of surgery allow the patient to choose a "spinal block" which can permit the patient to avoid the breath tubes and paralytics. Tower..Fentanyl is an opiate based medication and is similar to Morphine and Heroin in that respect, but your comment "than anything they'd use for surgery". I have no idea where you get that info. They use Fentanyl ALL THE TIME in surgeries. They also have it in transdermal patches and in sucker type form for chronic pain patients. No one expects everyone on here to be experts, but don't go spouting knowledge you obviously don't have or would know. And to OOOfun...if you are going to talk on here. than get your dosages straight. Fentanyl is given in mCg's not mg. consult any math book to learn the difference! yeah, i say 500mg would be a lot! it's actually, micrograms not milligrams. While there are of course dosing standards, 500mcg is a standard dose and definately could have been raised when the doctors saw the initial dose wasn't working. Patient's aren't just "strapped down" to endure surgery when medications don't work. Not since the Civil War. I really question what in the world the doctor and everyone else in that surgical suite was doing that day. I'm wagering that some great atty will get a hold of this and pay the man well!!! The hospital and the doctor will be held accountable along with the nurse, I'm sure. To Doug: I am so sorry for your loss. I hope you find a good atty for your sister's situation too. At the very least, multiple policies weren't followed to prevent that type of thing. Places I have worked would never have allowed you to transport opiates anyway, but the nurse who took it from you should have had to "waste" all of the medication in front of another nurse. I can't believe so much of this stuff goes on, but it does, all the time. A lot more random drug testing should go on to catch offenders, most places say they have "random drug testing" but people are rarely tested until there is cause. Even then, like in this case, the staff will refuse to test and then it makes it difficult to prove that the staff used the medication. Especially once they have retained counsel. I personally know a nurse that was stealing this same type of medication from post surgical patients she was in charge of caring for. She agreed to go to treatment to avoid losing her nursing license and is working as a nurse with the same medications today. Unbelievable! She should have lost her license permanently when she stole from the people she was trusted to care for. I want everyone who reads this to watch for and report suspected staff, even if you just have that something isn't right kind of feeling. Trust your judgement, there is probably a reason.

• They should have fired her on the spot. What I'd like to know is why the doctors didn't pick up on the fact that she was high and do something about the man on the table,besides consider restraints.

• Probably the doctor is busy boning the nurse after the surgery is done way back in the break room. They have rooms setup just for this.

• Here Bite this stick, you'll be fine

• @CT referring to the first comment the doctors couldn't do much. 500 mg is quite a lot. They were under the impression that he was injected with the whole 500. Adding a higher dosage could become fatal and that would be worse than having him suffer. But I do agree they should have looked into the pain. U must understand also that he probably wasn't very coherent being on drugs like that so the nurses don't know what to believe he says.

• Its like the story about the horrible mother that shot up with her dying sons sedative...karen Remsing?

• Thanks for the replies, folks; I've had that on my chest for years, and needed to tell someone.

• @ Doug, that's tragic. If it were only the first story like that I'd ever heard it would be bad enough. Sadly, I've heard countless similar stories over the past 28+ years that I've been researching medical malfeasance. I hope that this nurse and others of her ilk are slammed with serious prison time.

• Just to clarify: Fentanyl is an extremely potent pain-killer, not an anesthetic. It's more similar to Morphine or Heroin than any general anesthetic they'd use for surgery.

• Wow, no way man that is really messed up. This chick needs to be in JAIL for a very long time! www.anon-toolz.edu.tc

• @CT & Dr.Lover...My father cannot be put under with twilight medication, he becomes increasingly violent even though he is "under". When he awakes he has no recollection at all of these events. This is common and both Dr's and nurses have seen this. However, the red flag here should have been the behavior of the obviously under the influence nurse, so you put 2 and 2 together..........

• @NewsDog...As a woman who has both given birth and passed a stone-I would rather give birth ten times than pass another stone! I think it would be twice as bad for a guy.

• the guy could sue the hospital as well as the nurse for pain and suffering and mental some thing or other lol

• @doug That's horrible. @cw Your absolutely correct. I couldn't put my finger on why she looked familiar.

• @Leah...I getcha. Sorry, I read about this elsewhere and didn't read this one,I thought you didn't realize the cops were involved by what you said. My bad. :)

• Doug that's completely screwed up that no one listened to you. I have read that many nurses and doctors are addicted to various meds and I am not surprised. It is all just right there for them...too easy.

• When my sister was dying of cancer, she had a morphine bolus pack and a morphine IV drip. When she was transferred from HCMC (in Minneapolis) to another hospital, it was my job to transport this equipment to a nursing home. The morphine drip had nearly a full pack on it, and the HCMC nurse said, "Let me put that in a bag for you." She took it and returned about 20 minutes later with the drip machine in a paper bag. Trusting her, I did not inspect it, and departed with the equipment. But when I arrived at the nursing home and unpacked everything, I immediately noticed that the morphine pack on the IV drip machine was now almost completely empty! No, it hadn't leaked out. It was in perfect condition. When I plugged it in, it came up with the screen showing the drip rate, and it was set to an extremely high drip rate, a rate which was far higher then what the rate previously had been. A special setup code is required to change the rate, or a special key is needed to remove the pack, and only specialized pain management nurses have these things; it can't just happen by accident. I was sure that it had been tampered with. I warned the head nurse at the nursing home of this, that the machine apparently had wrong rates on it. She dismissed my concerns, saying, "That's okay, it'll all have to be set up again anyway." Well, a week or so later, my sister was transferred back to the nursing home where this tampered equipment sat waiting for her, on a weekend (a time when it would be unlikely to get a specialized nurse in to correctly reprogram the morphine drip machine), and so guess what? My sister was found dead the following morning. Since then I have always suspected that the morphine-stealing nurse at HCMC killed my sister by draining most of the drug out of the IV drip machine at high speed, and just leaving the machine set that way, overdosing her. Everything points to that. Immediately before my sister's death, she was described by nurses as being "difficult to rouse." When I spoke to my sister's doctor, he said she had seemed fine when he last saw her at the (second) hospital, and he was surprised by her death. While I strongly suspect she was killed by morphine, her cancer was advanced enough that she would not have lived for too many more weeks anyway. Still, what the HCMC nurse did was evil.

• I have a friend who is s nurse and she once told us that passing a kidney stone is the closest thing a man will ever experience compared to giving birth.

• @Leah...I read elsewhere that the patient actually went to the police himself, and that is what started the investigation.

• As if the poor guy wasn't in enough pain. I'm glad they figured it out. I wonder how many others she stole from to get to this point.

• I blame Nurse Jackie and her drug addict ways! Speaking of which, I wish they'd do another season of that show.

• She told him to man up, LOL!!!

• Hey - doesn't she look an awful lot like Susan Brock - the woman who had a thing - well, one of many on here - with a teenage boy recently?

• @CT....Thats what I was wondering.They Def left something out of this story.I saw this last night somewhere else and I figured he must not have actually seen her inject herself,they must have put it all together afterwards.Either way this is one evil bitch!

• I don't understand. If they knew that the man was in so much pain shouldn't they have adjusted his meds as they went - restraining him instead? She isn't the only one who fucked up.

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