Florida ICU Nurse Charged in Fentanyl IV Theft Case

Leslie Ann Pope, a 54-year-old ICU nurse, faces three felony counts after Port St. Lucie police in Florida alleged she drained fluid from a critically ill patient’s fentanyl IV drip. Police arrested her Oct. 8. Authorities say the patient wasn’t even assigned to her.

The charges are grand theft of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, and fraudulently obtaining a controlled substance. Pope has denied the allegations.

What Police Say Happened

Investigators say the first incident happened June 24 at Cleveland Clinic Tradition Hospital. A patient’s family watched Pope use a syringe to withdraw fluid from the IV infusion, put it in her pocket and leave the room. The next evening, police say, she returned and approached the IV equipment again. A family member intervened this time.

Detectives later reviewed footage showing Pope manipulating protective caps on the equipment. Investigators couldn’t determine whether she took more medication during the second visit.

Pope gave police an explanation. She said an alarm she described as an “upstream occlusion” required her to intervene with the IV, according to Brittany McNally, a public information officer with Port St. Lucie police. McNally rejected that account. “But again, she’s not even assigned to that patient, so there was no initial justification for her to even be in that room at that time addressing that patient,” McNally told CBS 12.

A Family Member Raised the Alarm

A patient’s significant other helped break the case open. That person had worked in a medical environment and disputed Pope’s account. “The family member actually was well versed in the medical field and had a history of working in that environment, which caused her to raise questions and caused her to notify the chain of command at the hospital,” McNally said.

The hospital conducted an internal investigation and contacted the Florida Department of Health, which notified police, McNally said. Police began investigating in August. The Palm Beach Marshals Task Force helped arrest Pope.

The case puts individual vigilance at the center. A critically ill patient depends on a continuous fentanyl drip for pain control. An alert relative, not a safeguard built into the system, flagged the problem.

Open Questions

Investigators haven’t established what Pope allegedly intended to do with the drug. “We don’t want to speculate what she could be using it for, whether it’s personal or, you know, selling it,” McNally said. “We don’t have that information at this point.”

McNally said Pope had worked at the hospital for around six months. Cleveland Clinic said in a statement to CBS12 News: “We take these allegations very seriously. The individual no longer works with us, and we are fully cooperating with law enforcement. Because this is an active investigation, we are unable to comment further at this time.”

The hospital didn’t say when Pope’s employment ended or whether it fired her. It also hasn’t said how a nurse not assigned to a patient got close enough to the IV equipment to withdraw fluid, or whether internal controls flagged the activity.

Why This Matters:

Hospitals depend on trust when they handle controlled substances. Accountability must back it up. This case raises hard questions about how a nurse not assigned to a patient could reach a fentanyl infusion, and whether private institutions are policing themselves as well as patients deserve. Here, a hospital investigation, a state health department referral and a police probe moved the process forward. But a relative raised the first alarm, not a system. Prosecutors will have to prove intent and establish what happened to the drug, details police say they don’t yet have. Until then, the presumption of innocence applies. For hospitals, the lesson is practical: tighter controls and quick reporting protect patients and limit liability far better than reacting after a family member steps in.