A newly unsealed civil lawsuit is alleging serious misconduct inside the emergency department at Heritage Valley Sewickley, claiming a longtime nurse stole pain medication, billed for drugs that were never given, and played a role in the deaths of two patients.
The 78-page complaint, made public on June 15, 2026, was filed by two registered nurses who work in the system. They accuse Heritage Valley of failing to stop what they describe as years of drug diversion and unsafe care, leaving patients exposed to preventable harm.
The suit names emergency department nurse Nolan Chismire and alleges that over roughly eight years he worked shifts "under the influence," stole controlled substances for personal use and diverted morphine that should have gone to patients in pain, according to WTAE. The complaint describes two cases in particular: a 70-year-old woman who arrived at the ER in 2024 with a non-life-threatening problem and later died after a medication error and hours without care, and a 47-year-old man in alcohol withdrawal who was found with a head wound in the hospital parking lot and later died after transfer to another hospital.
The filing also alleges that false insurance claims were submitted for medications that were never administered and that the health system did not drug-test or discipline the nurse even after a series of suspicious incidents raised alarms, according to WTAE.
“We continue to investigate the allegations in the litigation and welcome contact from all individuals with knowledge of potential HVHS misconduct,” attorney Joe Valenti told WTAE. Valenti represents the two nurses who brought the suit and said that as of the date the complaint was unsealed, it still listed Chismire as employed by Heritage Valley.
Allegations In The Patient Cases
The lawsuit sketches a picture of what the plaintiffs say were avoidable lapses inside the Sewickley emergency department.
In one case, according to the complaint, a 70-year-old woman came to the ER with an issue that was not considered life-threatening. She was allegedly left unattended for hours and received an incorrect medication before her condition deteriorated and she died. In the other, a 47-year-old man experiencing alcohol withdrawal was reportedly not kept safely inside the hospital and was later found outside in the parking lot with a head wound and subsequently died at a different facility after being transferred.
The nurses argue that both outcomes flowed from the same core problems: a nurse allegedly diverting drugs while on duty and supervisors who, despite earlier red flags, failed to investigate thoroughly or remove him from patient care.
Legal Implications
Beyond traditional medical malpractice claims, the filing alleges that Heritage Valley submitted false bills for medications that were never actually given to patients. If federal programs such as Medicare or Medicaid were billed for those drugs, that theory could open the door to liability under the federal False Claims Act.
According to the Department of Justice, False Claims Act cases can result in treble damages and civil penalties and can, in some situations, prompt direct federal involvement in health care fraud investigations. In other words, if the allegations are substantiated, the financial fallout for a health system can be far more than a slap on the wrist.
Why This Matters In Hospitals
Drug diversion by clinicians is a long-recognized patient safety threat that is notoriously difficult to spot in real time. Security experts and hospital investigators say it often requires proactive data monitoring, cross-departmental reviews and tight controls on how controlled substances are handled and wasted. Without those safeguards, a determined staffer can quietly siphon off drugs for years.
Reporting on diversion in hospital settings has repeatedly shown that facilities sometimes discover chronic abusers only after a tip from a colleague or when a bad patient outcome finally raises questions. That pattern is part of why frontline staff and managers are urged to have both the tools and the authority to flag anomalies early, rather than waiting for a tragedy to make the problem obvious.
The Sewickley campus identified in the filings is listed on Heritage Valley’s public site at 720 Blackburn Road, with a front entrance at 701 Broad Street. The system’s website also lists contact information for the Sewickley emergency department. For now, the lawsuit will move forward in civil court, where Heritage Valley and the named nurse will have a chance to formally respond, and the plaintiffs’ attorneys say they intend to keep pursuing documents and witnesses as the case develops.
