A nurse employed by hospitals in Miami Beach and Kendall swapped fentanyl for saline

A Cutler Bay registered nurse’s opioid addiction had him replacing fentanyl with saline at one hospital, cost him two jobs, some of his freedom and, most recently, his nursing license.

Emmanuel Valentin didn’t wait for the state’s Board of Nursing to act, voluntarily surrendering his license as of June 26. Valentin, 39, had already started a three-year probation that ends May 15, 2027 and began after he pleaded guilty to one count of theft of a controlled substance and four counts of controlled substance possession.

Online Florida Department of Health records say Valentin became a licensed registered nurse on March 29, 2021.

Problems at Miami Beach’s Mount Sinai

According to paperwork from the Florida Department of Health investigations, on March 22, 2023, a pharmacy audit at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach “identified Valentin removing up to seven syringes (of fentanyl) at a time, per patient, which is more than what was clinically needed for any single patient and indicated an abnormal amount of waste.”

Valentin’s drug screening came back negative “with the sample being clear and cold,” “cold” not being an adjective usually unpacked to describe urine.

The investigation said Valentin “admitted to using a water bad that he had in his pocket and further admitted to having an opioid problem.”

Valentin was fired and advised to enroll in the Intervention Project for Nurses, a program for monitoring and assisting nurses with mental health or substance abuse problems. Valentin didn’t enroll. He did get another job, at HCA Florida Kendall Hospital, the hospital previously known as Kendall Regional.

The HCA Florida Kendall exchange

Hospital video caught Valentin on Aug. 17, “tampering with Midazolam and fentanyl by removing the caps from the medication vials,” investigation paperwork said.

During a hospital investigation, “Valentin admitted to stealing the medications and replacing the contents in the vials with saline solution, then returning the vials” to the automated dispensing machine.

Charges were filed against Valentin on Aug. 25.