Former Pharmacy Tech Who Admitted Diluting Drugs At Des Moines Hospital Faces Federal Tampering Charge

DES MOINES, IA -- A year after an Iowa Methodist Medical Center employee was fired for switching a narcotic pain medication with saline, the former pharmacy technician has been indicted in federal court. Victor Van Cleave, 29, was charged Wednesday with tampering with a consumer product and obtaining the narcotic fentanyl by misrepresentation.

He could face up to 14 years in prison if convicted, according to KCCI-TV, which first reported last fall that up an estimated 250 vials of the opioid had been tampered with in the hospital pharmacy.

The station reported Wednesday that Van Cleave, who has been released from jail on bond and is working as a handyman, said he took the drugs for personal use due to an addiction that began after he underwent surgery. He is scheduled to go to trial in December and his attorney said he is cooperating with investigators.

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Hospital officials learned of the tampering on Oct. 6, 2016, after a nurse reported finding a tainted vial of fentanyl. Van Cleave, an employee of less than two months, admitted to hospital personnel that he had used syringes to obtain the drug over a six-week period. He was fired on Oct. 7, 2016.

Van Cleave was identified in May after his name was connected to documents obtained by KCCI-TV from the Iowa Board of Pharmacy.

More than 250 vials of the drug were reportedly altered and the hospital began contacting and apologizing to the 731 patients it found had been treated with the drug in the same time period.

More than 100 patients have joined in lawsuits against the hospital, claiming it was negligent in its hiring, training and follow up, KCCI reported in February. Attorneys representing the patients have said in all more than 200 people expressed interest in taking legal action. Some claimed their hospital experience involved excruciating pain that slowed their recovery and others have expressed concerns that the drugs they were given in the hospital could have been tainted.

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