A South Abington Twp. nursing home employee stole prescription painkillers intended for patients for her personal use and failed to maintain proper medication records, investigators said.
Jennifer Jane Sardo, 44, 321 Chestnut St., Peckville, formerly a licensed practical nurse at Abington Manor, was released on $30,000 unsecured bail Thursday after her arraignment by Magisterial District Judge Paul Keeler.
Sardo faces a felony count of acquisition of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, along with misdemeanor charges of theft by unlawful taking and failure to keep required records.
Her arrest followed a joint investigation by township police and the state attorney general’s Bureau of Narcotics Investigation that began in September after Abington Manor traced irregularities in a patient’s narcotics log back to Sardo, the arrest affidavit said. She was fired at that time.
According to the affidavit:
In an interview with investigators Oct. 18 with her attorney present, Sardo admitted stealing prescription medication, primarily oxycodone and hydrocodone, that was meant for patients from June or July until September.
She said she could not recall how many prescription tablets she took or what patients she took them from but believed the total number was fewer than 100 pills. However, she specifically acknowledged taking 20 Percocet tablets that she signed out for a patient identified only by the initials B.O.
Sardo, who told investigators she suffers from frequent unmanaged migraines, said she did not use the medication while at work but waited until the end of her shift or until she arrived home.
Investigators said there were 290 separate instances involving the records of nine patients where Sardo failed to properly document the administration of a prescription medication.
In her interview, she denied that she took the prescription or that the patient went without medication on each of those occasions, telling investigators there were times she did not have time to make proper records.
Keeler scheduled Sardo’s preliminary hearing for 9 a.m. Dec. 5.
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