Former Nurse at Houston Methodist Sentenced for Stealing Drugs

Former Nurse at Houston Methodist Sentenced for Stealing Drugs
Alexis McNeilly

A former nurse at Houston Methodist has been sentenced to 120 days in Harris County Jail, followed by four years of probation, and will surrender her Texas nursing license for life. District Attorney Kim Ogg announced the decision, emphasizing the importance of maintaining high standards of integrity in the healthcare field.

Alexis Joann McNeilly, 25, was arrested last year for stealing drugs from the hospital’s medication-dispensing system for personal use. McNeilly manipulated the system to remove drugs without valid orders, replaced the medication with saline, and used the stolen fentanyl and hydromorphone, an opioid stronger than morphine. Surveillance footage showed her injecting fentanyl into her hand and tampering with vials on multiple occasions from April to May 2023.

The crime was uncovered during a drug audit in May 2023, which revealed that several vials contained saline instead of medication. An internal investigation at Houston Methodist, along with surveillance video and Drug Enforcement Administration involvement, confirmed McNeilly’s actions. McNeilly was also found to have a history of similar behavior at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas.

Houston Methodist cooperated in uncovering the crime and developing charges. In May 2023, a supervisor conducting an audit on the drugs in a dispenser found several vials that looked suspicious. That supervisor had the vials removed and tested, which showed that the liquid medication had been replaced with saline. Further Methodist internal investigation into the machine records showed that McNeilly had accessed those drugs, but none of her patients had been prescribed them.

Investigators then used the hospital security cameras to find surveillance video of McNeilly accessing the machine. They saw that she was using a syringe to drain the liquid out of the vials and refilling them with saline. They found video of her doing it at least 11 times from April 20 to May 10, 2023. The hospital had contacted agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration to alert them about what was going on. Investigators with the Houston Police Department were also involved and filed the charges. The evidence that had been found was documented, and investigators contacted McNeilly, who had been fired.

She told police that she had done something similar at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. There, hospital staff became suspicious about the number of times she was creating overrides for one of the medication dispensers. After staff at that hospital found empty vials in the trash can of a restroom that McNeilly had just exited, she was given a drug test that came back positive for morphine, hydromorphone, and marijuana. She was fired, and the matter was still being reviewed by the Texas agency that licenses nurses when she was hired at Houston Methodist.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Eber, who is assigned to the Financial Crimes and Public Corruption divisions of the DA’s Office, prosecuted McNeilly. “What was most important is that she not ever be allowed to be a nurse, to put patients at risk, ever again,” Eber said. “She has to surrender her license, and even if she successfully completes probation, it is a final conviction, so she cannot ever again get a nursing license.”

McNeilly pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of diversion of a controlled substance and was taken into custody immediately to begin serving 120 days in jail as a condition of the agreement. Her time on probation will allow her to be supervised and get rehabilitative treatment as well. She was facing a maximum of two years in state jail.