Tri-Cities pharmacist on probation after hundreds of painkillers went missing

A Tri-Cities pharmacist has been placed on three years probation after hundreds of painkillers went missing from the pharmacy he managed.

The Washington state Department of Health resolved the case this month after charging Mustafa G. Elziny in 2018.

For the next three years Elziny cannot be alone in a pharmacy and must pay a $2,500 fine, among other requirements of his probation, according to a Department of Health agreement.

Elziny was manager of a pharmacy in Benton County in 2016 when the missing pills were discovered.

The pharmacy was audited by the Drug Enforcement Agency in September 2016 after more than 2,600 tablets of hydrocodone were taken during a burglary.

Elziny did not submit paperwork to the Drug Enforcement Agency about the loss, according to Department of Health documents.

The audit also could not account for 220 tablets of OxyContin and 968 tablets of hydrocodone missing from the inventory. Elziny was accused of forging paperwork that showed 200 of the OxyContin tablets had been transferred to another facility.

After the audit Elziny showed that the hydrocodone count did not include a bottle of 1,000 pills that was received and added into inventory later in the day.

The Department of Health spent more than a year investigating before moving forward with charges in 2018. Elziny said then that he wanted to negotiate a settlement.

No information was released by the Department of Health on why a settlement was not reached until this month.

Under terms of the settlement agreement, Elziny must have a pharmacy technician or another pharmacist with him when he is in a pharmacy, according to a Department of Health order. Another staff member must take inventory.

He also must submit a report on pharmacy ethics and pass a pharmacy exam.

More Tri-Cities license actions

▪ Nicolle Melanie Caroline Rushton, a registered nursing assistant, has been charged with unprofessional conduct for allegedly going to work intoxicated before her credentials expired.

She was working at a supported living facility in Kennewick and showed signs of intoxication, including drowsiness, inability to focus and loss of balance, on Sept. 15, 2020, according to a state document.

Later in the day she was stopped by police on suspicion of reckless driving. She admitted to taking Ativan, a controlled substance, according to a state document.

▪ Robert Lee Sauers has been charged with failing to comply with a 2020 agreement to the state. He did not submit quarterly reports and did not complete continuing education requirements.

His credentials to practice as an agency affiliated counselor and substance use disorder professional trainee were put on probation in 2020 based on prior interactions with a patient in a counseling unit at what was then Lourdes Medical Center.

He provided care as a mental health aide for the patient and then picked them up at a grocery store and drove them to a bus stop sometime after they were discharged. He also exchanged phone numbers with them.

When the patient was again admitted to Lourdes, Sauers asked them not to discuss the incident.

Sauers did not admit the allegations.

▪ Emily Marie Hanson, a registered nurse in Benton County, has been charged with unprofessional conduct.

In 2019 she was working as a nurse supervisor in Richland. She is accused of charting administration of oxycodone to a patient, but the patient said he had not received any pain medication.

An audit showed that in the previous two months she had withdrawn more oxycodone from the facility’s automated medication dispensing system than other nurses, even though she did not have individual patient responsibilities.

According to a state document, she admitted diverting oxycodone and her registered nursing credential has expired.

▪ Elvia G. Lothrop has had her registered nurse license in Washington state suspended after failing to be approved to practice in Arizona.

Lothrop admitted that she had been convicted in 2019 of first-degree negligent driving while under the influence of a controlled substance. She was addicted to prescription opioid medications at the time of the conviction, according to a Washington state document.