STAT+: AI is good at catching drug theft at hospitals, but only when humans do their part

STAT PlusHealth tech AI is good at catching drug theft at hospitals, but only when humans do their part At some hospitals, AI surveillance flagged suspicious patterns but pharmacists failed to act on the alerts Manage alerts for this article Email this article Share this article By Alexandra ByrneAug. 25, 2026 In late September 2024, patients noticed a nurse at Adventist Health in Bakersfield, Calif., was acting strangely. The nurse was walking barefoot through the intensive care unit, talking to herself and acting abrasively toward others.

Family members of patients noticed the nurse sloppily taking out IV needles but were afraid to confront her. “I know she was on something because you can tell,” one family member told federal investigators after the incident.Advertisement Another patient in the post-anesthesiology recovery unit treated by the same nurse was in excruciating pain under her care. “I was white knuckling it,” he said.

“You’re not dying,” the nurse replied when the patient expressed his pain. He thought he was being given fentanyl and morphine, but the IV drip didn’t seem to help. That’s because the nurse, hired through a travel nursing agency several weeks before the incident, was taking the medications from a secured cabinet in the wing and using them herself, while documenting that they had been administered to patients, according to investigators from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services tasked with investigating a complaint about the incident in November 2024.

The incident didn’t happen out of the blue. Hospital managers ignored alerts from a machine learning software that tracks when staff might be stealing drugs, auditors found.Advertisement Hospitals are major repositories of addictive substances that can also be crucial medical treatments. Occasionally, employees steal those drugs and are under the influence while caring for patients.

While new technologies are helping to identify theft and connect individuals with substance abuse resources, incidents like the one at Adventist show artificial intelligence isn’t foolproof. STAT+ Exclusive Story Already have an account? Log in This article is exclusive to STAT+ subscribers Unlock this article — and get additional analysis of the technologies disrupting health care — by subscribing to STAT+.

Already have an account? Log in Monthly $39 Totals $468 per year $39/month Get Started Totals $468 per year Starter $30 for 3 months, then $399/year $30 for 3 months Get Started Then $399/year Annual $399 Save 15% $399/year Get Started Save 15% 11+ Users Custom Savings start at 25%! Request A Quote Request A Quote Savings start at 25%!

2-10 Users $300 Annually per user $300/year Get Started $300 Annually per user View All Plans To read the rest of this story subscribe to STAT+. Subscribe Log In Artificial intelligence, STAT+ Submit a correction requestReprints Alexandra Byrne Byrne is a New York City-based journalist whose work has appeared in NBC News, Foreign Policy, and the Pulitzer Center. Newsletter Tech is transforming health care and life sciences.

Our original reporting is here to keep you ahead of the curve. Recommended Health Care Inc. Newsletter August 24, 2026 STAT Plus: Public-sector purgatory, and a union-hospital fight Health tech August 20, 2026 STAT Plus: How health systems are embracing chatbots to query and summarize patient records Advertisement Business August 18, 2026 STAT Plus: Nonprofit health system raked in $1.1 billion this year from stake in medical billing firm Hospitals August 18, 2026 STAT Plus: Leaders of Mass General, Dana-Farber among hospital execs who got big raises in 2024 D.C.

Diagnosis August 18, 2026 STAT Plus: Government workers feel the squeeze on health care Subscriber Picks