Mayo nurse who stole prescription pads 'an indirect victim of Covid'

A MAYO nurse convicted of stealing prescription pads and forging prescriptions was an 'indirect victim of Covid' by having to work in a 'toxic work environment' in Mayo University Hospital, according to a Circuit Court judge.

Sinéad Donohoe of Scrigg, Ballyhaunis appeared before Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court today where she received a 16 month suspended prison sentence for the theft of prescription pads from Mayo University Hospital and the forgery of prescriptions for the painkiller drug Solpadol.

Judge Eoin Garavan was informed that between September 1, 2019 and February 19, 2021, Ms Donohoe who worked as a nurse in the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital stole three prescription pads and forged 109 prescriptions for Solpadol.

The court heard that Ms Donohoe worked in ICU during the height of the Covid pandemic and while noting her offending started before the pandemic, Judge Eoin Garavan accepted that she struggled to deal with work in the hospital during Covid.

“She is to blame and must take moral cupidity for her offences to feed her addiction but she is another indirect victim of Covid.

“We all know what that was like and we remember ringing bells for the nurses without quite realising what they had to face. There was no training for this and certainly poignantly set out by Ms Donohoe, the zipping up of body bags during Covid and trying to cope with fatalities and trying to deal with what was coming down the line. She did not react terribly well to that, it appears,” he said during sentencing.

Suspicions

Detective Garda Tyrone Tobin told the court that Ms Donohoe made up the names of doctors and registration numbers when filling out the prescription. During the investigation he found that she handed the prescriptions into pharmacies in seven towns in east Mayo and Co Roscommon before suspicions were raised on February 12, 2021 after a prescription was handed into McSharry's Pharmacy in Castlerea.

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Detective Tobin said the pharmacist noted the quantity of Solpadol was too high to be prescribed to any one patient and Ms Donohoe's name was on the prescription.

Ten copies of prescriptions in Ms Donohoe's name were discovered on Mayo University Hospital prescription paper in the pharmacy and three other pharmacies in the town also confirmed they were in possession of similar prescriptions and were suspicious of the high quantity of drugs prescribed.

Judge Eoin Garavan

Detective Tobin said Mayo University Hospital was able to confirm that the prescriptions were not prescribed by the hospital and gardaí visited the home of the defendant on February 19, 2021.

He said she handed over the three prescription books which were the property of the hospital and admitted taking them and forged prescriptions.

A total of 109 forged prescriptions were covered in Ms Donohoe's name and all of them came from the books seized at her property.

Full admissions

When interviewed by gardaí on July 6, 2021, Ms Donohoe made full admissions and was fully co-operative throughout. She admitted making up all the doctors names and that they were not real doctors or real registration numbers.

She outlined that as a result of stress in her workplace and pain suffered from a medical condition she began self prescribing Solpadol and soon became addicted to the medication. Solpadol is the brand name of an analgesic drug that contains paracetamol/acetaminophen in conjunction with codeine and is used to treat severe pain in adults.

Detective Tobin confirmed that it appeared that Ms Donohoe was using the medication solely for herself and there was no evidence to suggest she was trading it to others.

Judge Garavan commented that it was remarkable that Ms Donohoe was able to make up a doctor's name and registration number without it being flagged in the pharmacy but Detective Tobin added that checks have since been tightened up.

The court heard that Ms Donohoe is a married mother of two young children and is no longer working in the hospital and her nursing registration has been suspended. She has no previous convictions and has not since come to the attention of the gardaí.

Bernard Madden, senior counsel for Ms Donohoe, commented that the probation report is entirely positive and his client is attending a counsellor for her addiction having attended Hope House.

He said the Probation Service also commented that the offending cannot be examined 'without looking at the bigger picture on the unhealthy and toxic work environment in which she was placed during Covid’.

“It was a very risky workplace setting which had a terrible effect on her which she struggled to come to terms with and counselling has been very helpful,” he said.

Sentencing

In sentencing Ms Donohoe, Judge Garavan said it was clear that she abused her position as a nurse in Mayo University Hospital but accepted working through the pandemic was a difficult situation.

“We were all at home thinking how great they were but did not see the appalling conditions in which they had to work in the beginning stage which was March 2020,” he commented.

Judge Garavan accepted that Ms Donohoe is ashamed of her actions and will not forgive herself for what she did and as a result he did not think a custodial sentence was appropriate.

“This lady made a mistake and there was an understandable reason for making the mistake. The only person she damaged was herself and she has managed to deal with that. Her own shame and embarrassment in this case is sufficient punishment for what was really a health issue at the time.”

He imposed a 16 month prison sentence but suspended the entirety of the sentence for a period of two years on the condition she continues to attend her addiction counsellor.