Skyline nurse admits to replacing Fentanyl stock with lidocaine; using while on-duty

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The Tennessee Board of Nursing has placed the nursing license of Ethan Levesque on probation status and allowed him to continue working after he admitted to taking Fentanyl and using it while on-duty at the hospital while caring for patients.

In a Disciplinary Action Report released this week, details are revealed how Ethan Levesque, a nurse at Skyline Medical Center procured Fentanyl to use while on-duty and taking care of patients. Levesque has been a registered nurse since 2014, licensed in Tennessee.

According to the Board of Nursing, on December 31 a nurse at the hospital discovered 2 vials of Fentanyl had been replaced in a medication dispensing machine, with 2 vials of Lidocaine. Levesque would later admit to diverting the Fentanyl for personal use, stating he chose Lidocaine because the caps of the vials were the identical shade of blue as the Fentanyl vials.

During his interview with Hospital management, the report details Levesque admitted he was addicted to opioids and had worked at the hospital while impaired. Levesque also explained another way in which he obtained Fentanyl for personal use: when he would obtain a vial for a patient, and provide them with the proper dose from the vial, he would withdraw the remaining amount from the vial into a syringe, hiding it on his person, while refilling the vial with saline, so the ‘waste’ of the remaining vial contents could be properly witnessed by another nurse, as required.

Ethan Levesque (Facebook)
Ethan Levesque (Facebook)

Skyline Medical Center terminated the employment of Ethan Levesque on January 2nd, 2019, and on March 21st, 2019, Levesque signed a monitoring agreement with the Tennessee Professional Assistance Program, allowing him to have the ‘suspension’ status of his license stayed, and be placed on probation status, and allowed to return to work as a nurse as long as he maintains the conditions of the monitoring program by TnPAP.

On April 10th, Ethan Levesque shared on social media the date marked his 100th day of sobriety, after a 12-year addiction. He stated that while he had been working as a food runner at a restaurant, he had now accepted a new nursing position.

No legal charges have been filed against Levesque for the diversion of the Fentanyl or caring for patients while under the influence of the drug. In 2014, Levesque was charged with driving under the influence, and the charge was reduced to reckless endangerment, and he paid $350 in fines with a year of probation. A copy of the consent order is below.

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