"A city audit is recommending the San Jose Fire Department strengthen its drug tracking and inventory security after painkiller thefts by a firefighter led to patients receiving morphine from tampered vials. The audit, released Monday, recommends Fire Chief Robert Sapien's department updates its policies on storage and access to paramedic drug kits, timing of inventory inspections, as well as access to biometric narcotics safes that the department plans to roll out over the next year."
"It comes after a routine fire station inspection in April found signs of tampering on morphine sulfate containers. City officials later announced the arrest of a fire captain, Mark Moalem, on suspicion of stealing and tampering with the drugs, affecting as many as 17 stations. But emails first obtained by San José Spotlight in May showed the city knew about drug inventory discrepancies, damaged vials and patient exposure for more than a year before Moalem's arrest"
San Jose Fire Department must strengthen drug tracking and inventory security after painkiller thefts led to patients receiving morphine from tampered vials. Recommendations include updating storage and access policies for paramedic drug kits, revising inventory inspection timing, and rolling out biometric narcotics safes next year. A summer 2025 inspection of the main safe found no evidence of theft, but the Controlled Substances Program Manager's duties are insufficiently separated to ensure medication security. An April station inspection identified tampered morphine vials and led to the arrest of Fire Captain Mark Moalem; emails indicate officials knew about discrepancies and patient exposure more than a year earlier, prompting county EMS criticism and regulatory concerns.
Read at San Jose Spotlight
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