PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Lisa M. McManaman, 47, of Providence, a former registered nurse in the intensive care unit of the Providence VA Medical Center, pleaded guilty on Friday to stealing prescription drugs from the VA Medical Center and to failing to disclose on her employment application with the VA that she was previously terminated from a similar position at another hospital in Rhode Island.
Appearing Friday before U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith, McManaman pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government property and one count of false statements. McManaman’s guilty plea is announced by United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha; Jeffrey Hughes, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, Northeast Field Office; and Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New England Field Division.
At the time of her guilty plea, McManaman admitted to the court that on dozens of occasions between May 2015 and October 2015, she used an override feature of an automated medication dispensing system (AMDS) to obtain controlled substance pills, including but not limited to oxycodone and morphine, that were not prescribed for nor provided to patients. According to court records, in the month of September 2015 alone, McManaman used the override feature of the AMDS 19 times and removed approximately 240 controlled substance pills that were not prescribed by a physician and that were not administered to patients.
Additionally, McManaman admitted to the court that in March 2014, she provided false information on her job application for employment at the Providence VA Medical Center when she stated that she had not been terminated from any employment within the previous 5 years. An investigation revealed that in November 2013, McManaman had been fired from her previous job as a nurse in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Rhode Island.
McManaman is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith on May 13, 2016.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dulce Donovan.
The matter was investigated by the United States Department of Veteran’s Affairs, Office of Inspector General, and the DEA.
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