Physician charged with
stealing prescription drugs

A federal grand jury last week indicted a physician at Jeanes Hospital in Fox Chase who allegedly stole prescription medications from the hospital for his personal use.
Dr. Edward J. Quirk, a resident of Delran, N.J., and an anesthesiologist at Jeanes, was charged with 11 counts of obtaining controlled substances by fraud. Each count is punishable by up to four years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
A six-page indictment alleges that between Jan. 1 and Feb. 26, Quirk, 52, raided the hospital’s pharmacy on 11 occasions, withdrawing vials of fentanyl and morphine illegally.
He allegedly used several methods. Sometimes, he withdrew drugs for patients no longer admitted at the hospital, withdrew them for unidentified patients under fictitious medical emergencies, withdrew amounts in excess of what was given to a patient and used the names of other hospital employees to sign for the drugs.
"When a member of the medical profession ignores the oath and ethics devised to guide him and other members of the profession and to protect the public, the entire profession suffers," said U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan in a printed statement. "In this case, according to the indictment, the defendant traded his ethics for a quick fix."
According to Susanne Hartman, a spokeswoman for the Temple University Health System, which operates Jeanes, Quirk worked at the hospital from 1991 until his resignation last February. ••