Texas Nurse Arrested for Stealing Painkillers From Hospital, Replacing Vials With Saline: ‘I Hear Voices Telling Me to Do It’

A Texas nurse has been arrested and charged after being caught nearly a dozen times on hospital surveillance stealing painkillers and replacing them with tampered vials full of saline solution.

According to court documents reviewed by KPRC2, 25-year-old Alexis Joann McNeilly was arrested on Dec. 26 on three felony counts of Diversion of a Controlled Substance. She is accused of stealing Fentanyl and Hydromorphone repeatedly between April and May 2023.

Hospital officials first became suspicious of McNeilly after an inventory check by the Director of Pharmacy at Houston Methodist revealed tampered vials in an area of the nurses' station, KPRC2 reports.

Upon reviewing surveillance footage of the room, McNeilly was found to have tampered with vials, replacing drugs with saline a total of 11 times. According to an affidavit, she was even caught on footage injecting herself with Fentanyl then returning to work.

The hospital's pharmacy manager said in court documents that despite an automatic drug dispensing system meant to prevent abuse, McNeilly was overriding the system and accessing drugs that were not prescribed to her or her patients.

According to KPRC2, McNeilly was confronted with the video evidence and admitted to gaining access to the drugs, but has repeatedly denied using the drugs at work.

Asked why she took the drugs, she reportedly told authorities: "I hear voices telling me to do it."

McNeilly was fired by Houston Methodist after the investigation. But according to KPRC2, this isn't the first time the nurse was terminated for questionable behavior surrounding drugs. She was also reportedly fired from Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas after overriding its drug dispensing system.

A coworker at the time had reportedly noticed empty drug vials in the bathroom trash and "blood spray" on the toilet seat after McNeilly left. When given a drug test at that hospital, it came back positive for Morphine, Hydromorphone, and Marijuana.

Since her Dec. 26 arrest, McNeilly has been released on a $30,000 bail and is reportedly expected back in court on Jan. 2.