DENVER (AP) — A former surgery technician charged with stealing painkillers intended for hospital patients is returning to Denver federal court.
Twenty-eight-year-old Rocky Allen will appear Friday for a detention hearing. He’s charged with tampering with a consumer product and obtaining a controlled substance by deceit.
Prosecutors say he took syringes filled with painkillers at Swedish Medical Center in the Denver suburb of Englewood and replaced them with some other substance. That substance hasn’t been disclosed.
Swedish asked about 2,900 people who underwent surgery while Allen worked there to be tested for hepatitis and HIV. John C. Lincoln Medical Center in Phoenix, where Allen previously worked, is also offering testing.
Denver attorney James Avery says two of his clients who had procedures at Swedish tested positive for hepatitis-B. They’re awaiting follow-up tests.
