HARRISBURG = Narcotics agents from the Attorney General’s office charged a Mercer County man accused of diverting pre scri ption pain medication from the hospital where he worked as a nurse. He allegedly took the drugs for his own personal use.
Attorney General Tom Corbett said that Michael Miller, 47, of Greenville, was allegedly taking Percocet, a schedule II controlled substance, from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Greenville, where he worked.
Corbett said that the investigation began when two registered nurses raised concerns about Miller’s medication activity.
According to the court documents, Miller repeatedly signed out Percocet for another nurse’s patient, including doses only 10 minutes apart.
“Our Bureau of Narcotics Investigation agents are very active in investigating medical professionals who are illegally using pre scri ption pain medication,” Corbett said. “It is a potentially dangerous situation if the person you trust with your medical care is under the influence of drugs.”
Corbett said that hospital records showed excessive amounts of Percocet being administered to patients. These records did not match up to the medication administration records of the same patients.
Miller is charged with one count of acquisition of a controlled substance by fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge, a felony, and one count of possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor. He faces a maximum penalty of 16 years in prison and $255,000 in fines.
Miller was preliminarily arraigned yesterday in front of Mercer County Magisterial District Judge Brian Arthur and released on $5,000 unsecured bail. He will be prosecuted in Mercer County by the Mercer County District Attorney’s office.
