Atlanta hospital faces sanctions in worker drug scheme

Emory University Hospital Midtown faces sanctions after investigators uncovered a criminal scheme in which employees used its pharmacy to order more than a million doses of addictive prescription drugs for illegal use. For five years, two pharmacy technicians secretly ordered controlled substances from Emory Midtown's wholesaler and sent the hospital the bills. The drugs included alprazolam, a frequently abused anti-anxiety drug, and potent painkillers such as hydrocodone and codeine, according to a recent public order issued by the Georgia State Board of Pharmacy.