Former nurse accused of impersonating hospital staff to steal prescription drugs

“Impersonating a health care worker after being fired in order to steal drugs to feed one’s own addiction is reprehensible and dangerous,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “People rely on nurses to be professional and trustworthy. My office will always seek to bring to justice those who exploit the health care profession – and vulnerable patients – for personal gain.”

The investigation, conducted by the New York State Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU), revealed that Pollock, who had recently been terminated from the hospital, is alleged to have returned there wearing her hospital scrubs in order to steal Dilaudid. Pollock allegedly convinced another nurse to give her a syringe of Dialudid; she then took the syringe into a bathroom, removed the narcotic, and refilled the syringe with tap water. She then returned the water-filled replacement syringe to the medication cart.

The complaint, filed in Rochester City Court, charges Pollock with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Fifth and Seventh Degree and Criminal Impersonation in the Second Degree.  Criminal Possession in the Fifth Degree is a class D felony, Criminal Impersonation and Criminal Possession in the Seventh Degree are class A misdemeanors. Pollock faces two and a half years in prison.