An Illawarra nurse who stole addictive prescription pain killers from two public hospitals has had his registration cancelled for at least three years.
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Cody Kurzveil was charged with larceny and drug possession offences after being accused of taking methadone, fentanyl and Endone from Shellharbour and Royal Prince Alfred hospitals for his own personal use as many as 12 times between 2014 and 2017.
He pleaded guilty to the offences in court in January 2017 and was placed on a good behaviour bond and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service as punishment.
However, the Health Care Complaints Commission sought further sanctions against Kurzveil in the NSW Civil and Administration Tribunal earlier this month when it applied to have the 30-year-old declared guilty of professional misconduct and disqualified from practicing.
A four-member panel granted the application in a judgement handed down on Wednesday, finding Kurzveil should be banned from working as a nurse for three years.
The tribunal heard Kurzveil completed his degree in 2013 and began working as a registered nurse at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPA) in 2014. He picked up additional casual work at Shellharbour Hospital in early 2016.
Evidence presented to the tribunal said although most of the drugs were taken from the hospitals' stocks, Kurzveil put one of his patients at risk of infection and discomfort during a shift at RPA in September 2016 when he unsuccessfully tried to take fentanyl from their IV drip as they lay in bed. In June the same year, Kurzveil stole five methadone 10mg tablets while working at Shellharbour Hospital.
In a written statement to the tribunal, Kurzveil said he deeply regretted "not upholding my own high ethical standards and those of my chosen profession" and expressed concern that he had compromised the health and safety of patients.
A psychiatrist who assessed Kurzveil in June 2017 noted he began using cocaine in university and had first been exposed to opioids in 2006 when he was prescribed Endone for a broken ankle.
The psychiatrist suggested Kurzveil had "a significant polysubstance abuse problem" and recommended a number of steps to address the issue, however Kurzveil denied he had addiction problems and had not sought any treatment by September 2018 when the psychiatrist saw him for a second time.
The NCAT panel determined three years was an appropriate amount of time to see if Kurzveil could kick his habit. He was also ordered to pay $17,000 in legal costs to the commission.