Military Misconduct

It is indeed. I knew two fantastic anesthesiologists that got out of the AF and within a couple years of separation were found dead in call rooms from injecting diverted narcotics. Both highly intelligent, respected physicians, married with young children. Ya never know.

I have known maybe...10? A dozen? Nurses and docs booted for diversion. Thankfully only one of those died. They found her in a bathroom right outside of the ED with several sharps containers she had been going through, and many empty syringes laying on the floor around her. It's such an awful demon.

I am thankful that our profession, at least in NC, swung from old-school punitive you'll-never-work-again to being helpful, rehabilitative, and trying to have the nurses re-enter the workforce at some point (albeit with significant restriction).
 
During one of the times you and I were in Afghanistan at the same time, we had a minor issue inside the Task Force with some of the medics (of flight crew, I don't remember which) stealing narcotics and stimulants. I don't recall all the details but I think that they were able to get away with it for a while by marking them as used or destroyed, and/or through very poor record keeping.
Unfortunately, there are many ways to do this if you’re so inclined. This is especially true with personally issued supplies (think downrange). I’ve seen cases where vials/preloaded syringes were refilled with saline, doses of narcotics charted but not given (or replaced with saline) and the narc pocketed, and various other ways.

One unintended consequence of the monitoring systems put in place to prevent diversion is that people who give appropriate amounts of pain meds are often flagged for review. This results in providers being a little reticent to administer or prescribe certain meds even though doing so may be best practice.

I’m a big believer in appropriate pain control in the prehospital setting and trust me, the monitoring systems are a big part of why paramedics often don‘t give a narc, benzo, or ketamine.
 
Marine Corps fires commander and sergeant major of Hawaii infantry battalion

Lt. Col. Benjamin Wagner, the battalion commander of the Hawaii-based infantry unit was fired along with Sgt. Maj. Jayson Clifton, the unit’s top enlisted leader, the Marine Corps confirmed in a statement. They were removed on March 31 “due to a loss of trust and confidence,” though the precise reason remains unclear.
 
Guess they used cuss words at the troops while in formation. Somebody reported them because they felt hurt. Or, since this is an Infantry Bn, they made comments that were not in agreement with women being in the Infantry. Doesn't take much to be let go nowadays.
 
Marine Corps fires commander and sergeant major of Hawaii infantry battalion

Lt. Col. Benjamin Wagner, the battalion commander of the Hawaii-based infantry unit was fired along with Sgt. Maj. Jayson Clifton, the unit’s top enlisted leader, the Marine Corps confirmed in a statement. They were removed on March 31 “due to a loss of trust and confidence,” though the precise reason remains unclear.
I've known Ben for over twenty years. He was and remains one of our best officers. He didn't deserve what happened to him.
 
The Naval service (phrased precisely this way to include the Marine Corps) has a history of shit-canning good officers and NCOs for the very ambiguous "loss of trust and confidence." A lot of things about my service that I am very proud of. This is not one of them.
 
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