A nurse might have gotten away with stealing pre-surgery meds. Then her husband appeared
A registered nurse faces drug theft charges after an incident with a pre-surgery drug, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Health.
The main impediment in Peaches Cooper Stewart getting away with stealing Midazolam, according to the health department: her husband.
That’s in the emergency restriction order (ERO) the health department put on Stewart’s license on Wednesday. The 38-year-old can’t be a nurse in any setting that gives her access to controlled substances. She’s been licensed in Florida since July 2017.
Midazolam also goes by the brand name Versed in the United States.
The Mayo Clinic says the drug “is used to produce sleepiness or drowsiness and to relieve anxiety before surgery or certain procedures. Midazolam is also given to produce amnesia (loss of memory) so that the patient will not remember any discomfort or undesirable effects that may occur after a surgery or procedure.”
The license restriction order says while working at St. Vincent’s/Ascensions Health Care on Feb. 16, Peaches Stewart took three vials of Midazolam and put down that she gave them all to one patient. Three days later, Mr. Stewart, no first game given, found three vials of Midazolam — one empty, one half-gone, the third one still closed — in a home bathroom drawer.
He took the vials back to St. Vincent’s, where a lot number check confirmed that the vials had come from St. Vincent’s. The hospital called the sheriff’s office.
Detectives were waiting when Peaches Stewart arrived for her 7 p.m. shift on Feb. 19. Both the ERO and arrest report say she admitted to taking the vials and the former said she confessed to taking the drugs for her own use.
Stewart has been charged with one count of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud. She posted $10,003 bond.
This story was originally published April 13, 2020 at 10:22 AM.
