Tim Tai

A lawsuit accuses Yale New Haven Hospital and Yale University of medical negligence for leaving five individuals in the intensive care unit to suffer without pain management.

The lawsuit was filed on Dec. 31 by five plaintiffs who alleged YNHH’s Saint Raphael Campus failed to properly safeguard controlled substances. The lawsuit alleges that a registered nurse, Sean Falzarano, diverted painkiller medications, diluting the hospital stock with salt water, causing patients to experience pain throughout their procedures.

One plaintiff in the lawsuit was a patient in the intensive care unit — ICU — and the remaining were family members of those who had died without pain management. 

“While my dad was suffering from kidney failure, he was a patient in the ICU at Yale’s St. Raphael campus,” said Cassaundra Scott-Jackson, the daughter of a deceased ICU patient. “I felt hopeless and upset that there was nothing I could do to ease my father’s pain, but that was Yale’s responsibility, and they failed him. I hope no other family has to live through knowing their loved ones suffered in this horrific way.”

In 2022, a nurse at YNHH Saint Raphael’s campus, or Yale-SRC, reported that some controlled substances appeared to have been tampered with, reporting that the caps of various bottles were more difficult to open than normal and the contents inside had different consistencies and colors than usual, the lawsuit states.

According to the lawsuit, an internal investigation found that nearly the entire controlled substance supply at Yale-SRC had been tampered with. This included hydromorphone, an opioid pain medication, as well as lorazepam and diazepam, anti-anxiety drugs, which were all quickly replenished.

Upon discovering the tampering, Yale-SRC conducted a Zoom meeting to discuss the suspects. Within two hours of this meeting, Sean Falzarano, a nurse who was not scheduled to work that day, removed two controlled substances from the newly replenished stock of medication.

Upon further investigation, Yale-SRC discovered syringes and vials of the pain and anti-anxiety drugs in Falzarano’s backpack, along with equipment that reseals opened vials.

This past December, Falzarano pleaded guilty to tampering with and stealing Lorazepam vials. The judge scheduled sentencing for March 2025 and his nursing licence is suspended.

Analysis by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revealed that of the four vials of hydromorphone they checked at YNHH, all four contained between 1.35 and 5.5 percent of the medication they were supposed to contain. All vials were heavily diluted with salt water, meaning that the medication the patients were receiving was at an alarmingly lower dose than expected.

“Our clients were seriously ill and required the most intensive pain management and anxiety relief out of all patients in the hospital,” Kelly Fitzpatrick, partner at Koskoff, Koskoff and Bieder, the Connecticut-based law firm representing the plaintiffs, said. “They endured unimaginable suffering due to the lack of pain medication at the most critical time. We look forward to getting patients and their loved ones the justice they deserve.”

According to this lawsuit, Yale-SRC failed to protect its patients from this drug tampering and did not properly treat their pain.

In a statement sent to the News, YNHH wrote that the safety of their patients is their “top priority.”

“We are truly sorry if any patients suffered as a result of this nurse’s actions,” a YNHH spokesperson wrote. “We have extensive measures in place to detect and stop any diversion or tampering of medications and continue to improve on these as new technology is developed.”

Despite these measures, Falzarano was able to access controlled substances, as Yale-SRC did not require pharmacists to check whether the appropriate amount of controlled substances had been returned after use.

According to the lawsuit, Yale-SRC had also granted Falzarano access to the controlled substance storage on days he was not scheduled to work. Still, Yale-SRC holds Falzarano solely responsible for the incident.

Drug diversion is a recurring issue in Yale health facilities. In 2020, Donna Monticone, another Yale nurse, pleaded guilty after she was found to have diverted 75 percent of all fentanyl supplies that were stored in an unsecured room at Yale’s fertility clinic. Then, the University paid a total of $308,250 in a civil settlement agreement.

This case is under the jurisdiction of Bridgeport, Conn.