Yale New Haven Hospital RN Gets 16 Month Federal Prison Term For Tampering With, Stealing Lorazepam: Feds

NEW HAVEN, CT — A Yale New Haven Hospital Registered Nurse in 2022 tampered with, and stole, vials of a controlled substance benzodiazepine, caught with a backpack filled with "vials, crimping tools, saline, vial caps, and syringes," according to the Justice Department.

Sean Falzarano, 39, pleaded guilty in 2024, according to U.S. Attorney for CT, David X. Sullivan. Tuesday, the Soutjbury resident was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 16 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release. He pleaded guilty to tampering with a consumer product, and acquiring a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge, Sullivan said.

As described by Sullivan, according to court documents and statements made in court, Falzarano was employed at Yale New Haven Hospital as a Registered Nurse and was granted access to secure locations used by YNHH to store controlled substances, including Lorazepam. Sullivan said that on Jan. 31, 2022, "Falzarano took vials containing Lorazepam solution that he knew were intended to be dispensed to patients."

"He removed a portion of the Lorazepam solution from at least one of the vials, replaced the contents with an inert solution, and returned the vial to the secure location where it was available for distribution to patients," Sullivan said. "Falzarano was confronted on that date by YNHH employees who were investigating drug tampering. A search of Falzarano’s backpack revealed vials, crimping tools, saline, vial caps, and syringes."

Released on a $50,000 bond, Falzarano, who lost his nursing license, is required to report to prison Oct. 1.

The case was investigated by the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations; the DEA’s Hartford Diversion Control Division; and the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, Drug Control Division. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ray Miller.