Ohio Attorney General Launches Effort to Help Nursing Home Administrators Target Employee Drug Diversion

Targeting drug diversion by employees, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced that investigative assistance will be offered to every nursing home, assisted living agency, and residential care facility in Ohio. The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office is authorized to review and investigate complaints of elderly abuse, neglect, and drug diversion. In addition, along with the Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman and the Ohio Department of Health, the MFCU can seek the prosecution of suspects, indicates a press release from DeWine’s Office. DeWine said his office will contact facility administrators throughout Ohio to remind them that this assistance is available. “Our law enforcement officers have been aggressively shutting down ‘pill mills’ across the state, but now addicts may turn to care facilities to feed their dependence,” DeWine said. “We want to remind those who work in these licensed care facilities that they have the mandatory duty, as required by law, to report suspicions of abuse, neglect or drug diversion.”