A registered nurse at Hennepin County Medical Center repeatedly stole powerful pain medications from patients, targeting victims who she felt weren't in too much pain, according to felony theft charges.
Bobbi Leigh Beck, 27, of Le Sueur, Minn., was caught three times on surveillance video in late July stealing oxycodone from patients, a detective with the Sheriff's Office alleged in the criminal complaint.
Beck told investigators that she was stealing the drug to help her deal with pain following foot surgery, according to the complaint.
She said she committed no more than 10 thefts of the drug and "would only take the pain medication if the patient wasn't in too much pain," said the complaint, filed Friday.
Beck, who has been a licensed nurse in Minnesota since January 2006 and was hired by Hennepin County Medical Center that same year, was charged by summons pending her first court appearance.
"Abuse of pain medication is a national epidemic, and we are seeing an increase in cases of medication theft," Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek said on Tuesday. "Medications have been stolen from homes, health care facilities, pharmacies and elsewhere in recent months, so I urge everyone to closely monitor supplies and report suspicious activity."
Last week, former registered nurse Sarah May Casareto was sentenced in Hennepin County to probation for stealing a powerful painkiller from an Abbott Northwestern Hospital patient before he underwent a kidney procedure.
In March, former nurse Maria A. Mihalik admitted to sneaking into Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids hospital last year and siphoning painkilling medications out of patients' IV bags to feed her own addiction.
