A former nurse at Houston Methodist has been sentenced to a 120-day jail term and will be barred for life from practicing nursing in Texas following her conviction for stealing medications meant for patients. Alexis Joann McNeilly, 25, was arrested after surveillance footage showed her injecting stolen fentanyl into her hand, according to a report by KHOU. Following her jail time, McNeilly is slated to then serve four years on probation.
McNeilly's activity came to light after a supervisor at Houston Methodist noticed suspicious vials during a drug audit in May 2023, reported Click2Houston. Testing of the vials confirmed they contained saline instead of the prescribed medication. McNeilly was subsequently found to have accessed medication on multiple accounts without any corresponding patient prescriptions from April 20 to May 10, 2023, as per the same report. Her actions were caught on camera at least 11 different times.
Previously, McNeilly was implicated in a similar incident at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, where she was discharged following a positive drug test for substances including morphine, hydromorphone, and marijuana before being hired at Houston Methodist. "Being a nurse, or any health care worker, carries an incredible amount of responsibility," Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement obtained by KHOU. "Anyone who does not maintain the highest level of integrity should not be allowed to work in that field."
After accepting a guilty plea for two counts of diversion of a controlled substance, McNeilly must immediately begin serving her sentence. Assistant District Attorney Michael Eber, who prosecuted the case, emphasized the priority of ensuring "what was most important is that she not ever be allowed to be a nurse, to put patients at risk, ever again,," as told to Click2Houston. The plea agreement spared McNeilly up to two years in state jail, instead offering probation accompanied by supervision and potential for rehabilitative treatment.
