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ASHLEY — The arrest of a nurse charged with stealing her patient’s pain medication led police on Wednesday to raid her Preston Street home, a suspected meth lab where one man was arrested and from which more than a dozen guns were retrieved.
The state Office of Attorney General on Tuesday charged Andrea Gosiewski, a registered nurse, with stealing strong narcotic pain medication from a patient and using it on herself.
Gosiewski, 39, of 25 Preston St., faces five counts each of acquisition of a controlled substance through misrepresentation, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, possession of a controlled substance and furnishing false or fraudulent material.
She was arraigned Wednesday before District Judge Paul Roberts and, unable to post $100,000 bail, remains jailed at Luzerne County Correctional Facility.
Later Wednesday, the Pennsylvania State Police Clandestine Lab Response Team converged on the woman’s residence, with officers entering the house dressed in protective suits.
Approximately 10 long guns — including an AK-47 rifle — and about eight handguns were brought out of the residence.
An agent with the state Office of Attorney General said one man was arrested at the house on Wednesday, but his name would not be released until he was formally charged. He expected the man would be arraigned on Thursday.
According to court papers, Edwardsville police Sgt. Hal Bond contacted the state Office of Attorney General on Monday and advised that Edwardsville police officer Michael Lehman found a registered nurse identified as Andrea Gosiewski unresponsive in a vehicle parked near Rite Aid at the West Side Mall.
Lehman observed a bag labeled “Hydromorphone (Dilaudid)” — and prescribed to a person described in court papers as “Patient 1” for reasons of patient confidentiality — on Gosiewski’s lap, as well as one used hypodermic syringe and one sealed hypodermic syringe on the floor of the driver’s seat.
According to drugs.com, Dilaudid is used to treat moderate to severe pain.
An investigation revealed that Gosiewski, on at least five occasions between May 1 and Monday and while employed by Erwine Home Health Care and Hospice, allegedly removed the patient’s Dilaudid from his infusion delivery system and falsified the patient’s medical records by indicating she destroyed the remaining medication.
Gosiewski allegedly took the Dilaudid from the patient’s residence for her own personal use, and the medication was never administered to the patient, court papers state.
After being advised of her rights, Gosiewski provided written and verbal statements in which she allegedly admitted to stealing her patient’s pain medication, using it for herself and falsifying medical records, according to court papers.
Gosiewski further stated, according to court papers, that her patient has terminal Leukemia and is in decline, and that it was her belief that there is no medicine that will “save” him. Gosiewski allegedly stated that she needed the medicine because she has “a sore back and neck.”
