Seven women have accused a US fertility clinic of failing to safeguard its supply of opioid painkillers after a nurse replaced fentanyl with saline.
The women all underwent surgical oocyte retrieval as part of fertility treatment at the Yale Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility clinic in Orange, Connecticut. Their complaints of severe pain were allegedly dismissed by the clinic. It later became apparent that former nurse, Donna Monticone had replaced their pain medication with saline.
One of the women said 'It was more pain than I could ever imagine'. 'I remember screaming in the middle of the procedure from pain. She has traumatised us to another level' said another.
Oocyte retrieval is an essential component of IVF treatment. A surgeon retrieves the eggs by inserting a thick needle through the vaginal wall, ovarian ligament, ovary and ovarian follicle to retrieve mature eggs. The eggs are then fertilised in the laboratory and transferred back to the uterus one or two at a time.
Monticone was in charge of ordering and recordkeeping for the clinic's opioid painkillers. At first, she injected herself with fentanyl at the clinic, then switched to taking the vials home, adding sterile saline and reintroducing the vials back into the stock. Over a five-month period, an investigation found 75 percent of fentanyl vials were diluted with saline.
The women are suing the clinic, claiming medical assault, battery and medical malpractice. The Yale clinic was accused of violating pharmacy protocols by keeping fentanyl in unsupervised and unlocked areas. The clinic also did not implement drug testing to staff with access to opioids.
'Yale's failure to develop and implement safety measures mandated by state and federal law to secure drugs like fentanyl resulted in these patients being traumatised,' said Joshua Koskoff, the lawyer representing the women. 'What should have been a time of hope for these women and their families became one of unimaginable suffering.'
Monticone has already faced criminal proceedings for her actions. Earlier this year in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut she pleaded guilty to one count of tampering with a consumer product and surrendered her nursing licence. She was sentenced to three years of supervised release, four weekends in prison and three months of home confinement.
Sources and References
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Yale University sued by tortured IVF patients as nurse replaced fentanyl with saline
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Seven women sue Yale University fertility clinic after suffering excruciating pain when 'nurse stole their fentanyl for her personal use and replaced it with saline'
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Women sue Yale over fentanyl switch-up at fertility clinic
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Former nurse sentenced for tampering with fentanyl vials intended for patients at fertility clinic
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Former CT nurse who replaced patients’ painkillers with saline gets weekends in prison
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