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Volume 346:1510-1511 May 16, 2002 Number 20 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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A report in this issue of the Journal (see pages 1529–1537), describes an outbreak of bloodstream infections in an intensive care unit that was traced to an employee who was suspected of tapping into fentanyl infusions that were being administered to critically ill patients. A sample of the employee's hair showed traces of the narcotic, but he denied wrongdoing. He left the hospital, and the outbreak ceased. What is unusual is that the health care worker in question was a respiratory therapist and not a physician. When narcotics are misappropriated, the person implicated is usually a physician. But substance abuse . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Related Letters:

Health Care Workers and Addiction
Merrill J. O., Marlatt G. A., Verghese A.
Extract | Full Text | PDF  
N Engl J Med 2002; 347:1044-1045, Sep 26, 2002. Correspondence

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• Merrill, J. O., Marlatt, G. A., Verghese, A. (2002). Health Care Workers and Addiction. NEJM 347: 1044-1045 [Full Text]