Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes announces the indictment of Jason J. D’Amico, 28, of Totowa.
Jason J. D’Amico was employed as a pharmacy technician for approximately four (4) years at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Wayne, New Jersey and he was responsible for filling Pyxis machines. Pyxis machines are specialized machines located in the operating rooms of St. Joseph’s Hospital and are designed to dispense certain types of medications used during surgical procedures.
D’Amico allegedly took numerous vials containing the pain killer Fentanyl and would remove the substance and fill the vials with a colorless solution. He would then return the vials to the pharmacy and indicated that they were unsuitable for various reasons.
In addition, D’Amico would then place the tampered vials back into the Pyxis machines in the operating rooms within the hospital. These Fentanyl vials were supplied to St. Joseph’s Hospital by Pfizer, Inc.
After conducting an analysis on some of the recovered vials, Pfizer concluded that the vials were tampered with and that the solution contained within those tampered vials were of a much lower concentration than what is produced by Pfizer.
This arrest is the result of a year-long investigation during which an internal investigation was conducted by St. Joseph’s Hospital and a further criminal investigation was conducted by members of both the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Narcotics Task Force and the Wayne Police Department’s Investigative Division.
D’Amico has since been terminated from his position at St. Joseph’s Hospital and has voluntarily surrendered his pharmacy license.
He has been indicted for Theft by Unlawful Taking, under N.J.S.A. 2C:20-3(a), a crime of the third degree and for Drug Tampering 2C:40-17(b), a crime of the second degree. The matter is scheduled for an arraignment before the Hon. Sohail Mohammed, J.S.C. on June 26, 2017 at 9 am.
The second degree charge carries a maximum of ten (10) years in prison while the third- degree charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.