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Home / Moral Panics / Drug
Rape urban myth Drug-rapes
- Taranaki Hysteria December 2006 |
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Tauranga Hospital has launched an
internal investigation after a nurse was arrested for stealing 120 vials of a
potent drug linked to date-rape cases overseas. Dan Erik Hansson, 40, of Mt
Maunganui, was arrested on Thursday and appeared in Tauranga District Court
last week on one charge of theft. The drug - Fentanyl - can be used
recreationally. Police allege Hansson stole the
vials of diluted Fentanyl from a hospital safe on 40 to 50 occasions from
March to October this year. The alleged thefts occurred just
months after the hospital changed its security provider because of thefts
involving patients and staff. Bay of Plenty District Health
Board chief operating officer Graham Dyer said an internal investigation was
launched after Hansson was arrested. He would not comment on the
specifics of the investigation but said the hospital still had an
"employment issue" to deal with in relation to the case. Mr Dyer said he was satisfied that
the hospital's robust monitoring systems had eventually led to the arrest. "Our systems are designed
primarily to ensure patient safety and to avoid errors when dispensing drugs. "However, it's the same
systems that have led to the detection of irregularities within the
dispensing system and ultimately the arrest of a staff member for
theft," Mr Dyer said. New Zealand Nurses Organisation
organiser Paul McGee said it was rare for a nurse to face such serious
allegations. Depending on the outcome of the
criminal case, the organisation would also carry out its own investigation,
he said. It is understood Hansson has been
a nurse at the hospital for one year and a registered nurse since 1998. Hansson will reappear in court on
October 19. - BAY OF PLENTY TIMES |
