Whoops or stealing?

mrsconn23 · October 2016

Dear Prudence,
My wife is a resident nurse at an assisted living facility. Recently at home I discovered a drawer full of dosage cups, some with pills in them, and many more empty cups. I think she is neglecting to dispense medicine to her patients (either by accident or to steal it), and she is either taking it herself or possibly selling it. Our relationship isn’t strong and she has a history of dishonesty about our finances so I’m not sure she wouldn’t lie to cover up. Could there be any other explanation for this stash? I feel I need to head for the door and shelter the kids as much as possible from the inevitable discovery by her employer and legal backlash but I don’t want to tear apart their lives if there is a perfectly good explanation.

—Negligence or Theft?

DrillSergeantCat · October 2016

What good explanation can there be? She's either stealing their meds or simply not giving them to the residents which is just as bad. The fact that they're in your home and not dumped in a trash bin on the way home tells me she's up to no good with them.

charlotte989875 · October 2016

Yah it's hard to see a benign reason why she would have medicine prescribed for other people at your home. This is dangerous, and possibly (probably) illegal.

DrillSergeantCat · October 2016

It would be interesting to know if they're all the same type of pill. If I were LW, I'd go to a pill identifier online to see what they were because I'm nosey.

cowgirl8238 · October 2016

I'd alert the proper authorities and run...if she has been dishonest about finances in the past, and she is harboring pills in your home that aren't prescribed to her, that is a huge red flag!!!

It sounds to me like the LW already knows this is bad and is just asking for permission from Prudie.

OliveOilsMom · October 2016

LW should take a picture of the stash, so the wife cannot hide from this. He has prescribed medications in his house without a prescription. LW needs to talk to a lawyer ASAP so that he can have a plan ready to go.

Wife should not have custody if she is abusing these medications herself or selling the drugs - those can be the only two reasonable reasons she has them. If she is just withholding them to withhold them, then she is a sick twisted person or someone who likens herself as an angel of mercy, which is even worse than just being a drug abuser or dealer!

Once LW has the plan in place, he should report her to authorities and let them handle the medication situation themselves.

MissKittyDanger · October 2016

"whoops" or "stealing" regardless is wrong ...

I think LW needs to look into the situation, maybe talk to wife?

short+sassy · October 2016

I'd at least talk to her. But, yeah, I can't think of any kind of legit reason.

DrillSergeantCat · October 2016

short+sassy said:

I'd at least talk to her. But, yeah, I can't think of any kind of legit reason.

The problem with talking to her, though, is that she'll just move her stash and likely keep doing it. I really like what @OliveOilsMom suggested.

lyndausvi · October 2016

Run forest, run. There is no legit reason for her to have those pills.

*Barbie* · October 2016

I'm in agreement with talking to lawyer, understanding options, and getting the kids out of the situation, but I also can't help thinking that his wife is pretty stupid.
If you are going to hide a pill habit (or drug sales) there are a lot of things that she could have done to be more discrete. (Like putting the pills in something besides the distribution cups, sorting them by type into actual prescription bottles, etc.) I mean, if you're going to do something illegal, at least be smart about it.

levioosa · October 2016

Yeah, huge difference between accidentally coming home with an saline flush and coming home with pills. Especially from the elderly at an assisted living facility. That is despicable and she deserves to lose her license and be prosecuted.

kimmiinthemitten · October 2016

*Barbie* said:

I'm in agreement with talking to lawyer, understanding options, and getting the kids out of the situation, but I also can't help thinking that his wife is pretty stupid.
If you are going to hide a pill habit (or drug sales) there are a lot of things that she could have done to be more discrete. (Like putting the pills in something besides the distribution cups, sorting them by type into actual prescription bottles, etc.) I mean, if you're going to do something illegal, at least be smart about it.

Except if she has a drug habit, which it sounds like she does, reasonable behavior isn't the goal. Getting the drugs is.

Whoops or stealing?

Re: Whoops or stealing?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards