Should I report my concerns over suspected stolen medication?

[EW1995]

I am pretty convinced my ex MIL used to steal other patients medications from work - she manages medications in a care home - because when I used to live with her I would often find bottles of medication with other peoples names on it in her bedroom and I can’t imagine where else she would have got them from.

That was years ago and I was fairly young at the time (teenager) and quite naive so didn’t take it any further.

Fast forward a few years and she works in a new place now, ex has mentioned a couple of times that his mum has given him quite strong medication for different things - she doesn’t have the ability to prescribe medication, I don’t think this is medication she would have been prescribed herself and he didn’t get it from the doctor - so I am starting to suspect that she could possibly still be taking other peoples medications and then giving them to friends and family for ailments without knowing if the medication is correct for them or not.

WIBU to report my concerns to her work place anonymously or should I just keep out of it?

We don’t have a relationship and it doesn’t bother me if she was to find out it was me as it wouldn’t have any repercussions for me personally

@InFiveMins

You have zero evidence, OP

Are you sure you aren't doing this just because you dislike your ex MIL?

Then the employer would be able to audit the drug records and see whether there's anything amiss.

Doesn't matter whether she likes her or not, if she is taking medication from people who are in pain, distressed or in some way suffering and making their pain worse, that's not just a little bit naughty, that's outright evil. Keeping hold of leftovers after death, less harm caused in terms of the original person, but potential addiction and/or death for a few moments of 'oh, M can sort you out with something for that without having to go to the doctor' otherwise known as a non profit making drug dealer

Take photos,get your evidence.go to the police.
If you can't get evidence it's going to be very hard to prove.

You report, they then look into it, she’s caught in the act under their surveillance. You don’t need evidence, they’ll be obliged to investigate.

Even if these drugs are from deceased patients and not stolen from living patients, she's committing crimes.

These drugs, even if not controlled, need to be disposed of properly and are subject to the Medicines Act - she is absolutely breaking the law, administering drugs which are prescription only.

If some of them are controlled, for example benzodiazepine tranquilizers, then she is committing a crime against the Misuse of Drugs Act.

She needs to be reported.

In my work I deal with incidents around medical treatment. Everyone is responsible for reporting concerns, including you. It will then be investigated and your information will be kept entirely confidential. Misuse of prescribed medication is dangerous and can lead to suffering in those who should be receiving them and overdose/death in those not prescribed

You saw bottles of pills with a strangers name on and now you "think" she is stealing drugs? Really?

I would bet she is taking medication which is supposed to be disposed of, either due to a death or because prescriptions change. When my mother died we had bag loads of stuff to get rid of. She may be taking them from living people, but that is really closely monitored so much higher risk. It is a really serious crime, but I think that you need to be really sure of what she is doing first. You say you dont have a relationship with her, but what about your relationship with your DH if you report her? And as for her dosing him up, he can and should be saying no.

You saw bottles of pills with a strangers name on and now you "think" she is stealing drugs? Really?

What other explanation is there?

It’s my ex dh’s mother, however if I let an anonymous tip for it to be investigated without giving my details, I don’t think they would ever suspect it was me because I don’t have much to do with her and haven’t done for a while now so I don’t think it would affect my co parenting relationship with him at all

Yes I think you are probably right about it being medication no longer used due to death or change, especially if she’s been doing it and getting away with it for quite a while now

Then do it - the care home will be in serious trouble for what she is doing and she could well cause someone a serious problem by giving them something they are not supposed to be taking.

Sorry, posted too soon. What I meant to say is that the care home needs to know they have an issue like this, because it is so serious. If she can do this, how do they know other people are not taking medication and selling them on the street? Or misusing them?

you havent got anything except suspicion and thats it , you are not her doctor , so its not for you to say what medication shes on and if you think shes been prescribed it or not . .it is of course up to you what you do regarding reporting it , but i can say i would feel an absolute prat ringing up a care home with the story you have written out here , what are they going to make of it when you tell them you were a teenager i dont know ! and sometimes ex mentions his mum will give him medication if he needs it , what is the medication ? what is it used to treat ? i think if you are going to report this to the care home you had best have some better answers than this vaugeness so far

Well, OP has seen bottles of medication with different names on that aren't OPs exMil. And her exDP has said she has new ones that she has given him, of strong medication that's not hers.

An anonymous report to CQC - (who will then alert the care home) - will be best way to get it investigated- you need to know the name of care home she works at and give her name, you can stay anonymous and say it is a concern.

My concern is that she is taking prescribed medication that is not hers and either taking it or dolling it out, therefore those meds- some of which may be controlled drugs- are not properly disposed of (if from deceased client) or from a resident who needs it . And the DGC who visit her are at risk if she happened to decide to give them anything- although one would hope she's been stupid to give to ExDP an adult, but not negligent enough to also give to children If she has been taking other peoples medication away from locked medication cabinets, her judgement is poor.

If she hasn't, then she has nothing to worry about- the police can get a warrant for a search of her house if they believe it has any basis of concern (ie records indicate there is missing meds) . At the very least , it will flag up something that people watch far more closely wrt old medication disposal and procedures- which should be tight in a care home anyway.

I would report without hesitation. I'm not even sure why you're asking tbh. She could kill someone unless she understands her pharmacology and takes a full medical and drug history from everyone she doles pills out to, which I bet she doesn't. Even then she could kill someone, and if it all comes out after the event, she might be looking at a manslaughter charge. And then there are the residents to think of. Pinching drugs off dead/hospitalised residents is a best case scenario. If people who are still alive and in her care are missing out on drugs, she could have killed a few indirectly already. I think you have to wonder at the motivations of someone who would do this, and think about what else they might justify in their mind. If she is a nurse, I would report to the NMC as well.

There are loads of different ways that this woman could be stealing meds.

• Patient dies, instead of destroying meds she takes them home with her.

• Patient goes into hospital for three weeks, and has meds dispensed in hospital, and then there’s three weeks unused supply.

• Patient sent home from hospital with a box of new Medication, but they aren’t allowed to dispense from individual meds boxes, so they GP then adds to the repeat so it can be put into the dosette from the pharmacy, and the hospital box is then surplus to requirements.

• Patient starts a course of X antibiotic, but the first dose makes them sick, so the GP changes to a different one. There’s almost a full course of abx up for grabs there.

• If this woman holds overall responsibility for meds management then she is literally the person responsible for stock checking/destroying, etc. So nobody would be any the wiser if she marked off that she’d destroyed something, when actually she’d pocketed it.

Destroying CD’s should be a two person process, but two competent people aren’t always available so there’s times when this probably isn’t complied with.

OP, you must report. This is dangerous, you’ve seen enough!