Former Houston Methodist Nurse Arrested for Stealing and Tampering with Drugs
Houston, Texas – Alexis McNeilly, a 25-year-old former nurse at Houston Methodist, has been accused by police of stealing potent drugs such as fentanyl and hydromorphone while on duty and replacing them with saline solution. The allegations were detailed in a four-page court document that revealed surveillance footage capturing McNeilly using a PYXIS, a device used by medical staff to request drugs without a pharmacist’s order.
According to the court document, McNeilly would use a syringe to swap out the stolen drugs with saline before returning the tampered vials back into the PYXIS. The thefts allegedly occurred at least 11 times between April 2023 and May 2023.
When confronted by hospital administrators, McNeilly denied using the drugs and claimed to hear voices instructing her. However, multiple staff members noticed bruising on her arm, and surveillance video showed her injecting fentanyl into her hand before returning to work.
Houston Methodist promptly terminated McNeilly’s employment and notified law enforcement. In a statement, the hospital emphasized that such conduct is unacceptable and never tolerated, highlighting their extensive safeguards in place to protect patients.
During police questioning, McNeilly admitted to the thefts and alluded to a similar situation at her previous job at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. Staff at Baylor University Hospital had raised concerns about the number of times she overrode medication orders. Additionally, they discovered blood spray on a toilet seat and empty vials in the trash can after she had used a staff restroom.
McNeilly confessed to taking medications that were going to be wasted from cancelled overrides at Baylor. A subsequent drug test revealed the presence of morphine, hydromorphone, and marijuana.
McNeilly now faces three charges of diversion of a controlled substance.
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