Hospital Highs | Investigating drug addiction in Georgia hospitals

From: Rebecca Lindstrom, WXIA
May 20, 2016

This year alone there was a surgical tech caught stealing pain medication from hospitals in four states before he was stopped. Locally, a hospital CEO and several of his family members were accused of running a pill mill. And Emory fired two pharmacy employees after uncovering a four-year scheme to steal drugs at its Midtown hospital. But most hospital highs never make news.

Carol Bowers, a former nurse, agreed to talk with us about her addiction to Demerol, to help raise awareness about the problem, but more importantly in her mind, the need for treatment.

“My own addiction started because I had migraine headaches. I was at work one night and my patient didn’t want it. I thought well I already signed it out so I used it,” explained Bowers.

Within three months she says she was completely addicted to the drug. Bowers now works at Talbott Recovery, one of the first drug treatment programs to help medical professionals.

Read the full article and watch the interview on 11alive.com.