Athens hospital rocked by pair of drug scandals

By Joe Johnson

The recent overdosing by a security guard while on duty marked the second drug scandal within a month

for Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center.

According to police, the nightshift public safety lieutenant overdosed early the morning of June 12th in the hospital’s HR building, apparently on drugs that had been confiscated a week earlier from an emergency room patient but were never given to police.

According to a police incident report made public on Tuesday, the security guard was identified as 51-year-old Kevin Gordon, who was admitted to the hospital for treatment of the overdose.

The other drug-related incident happened on May 17th, when Piedmont emergency room nurse Mark Cherry was being investigated for domestic violence and was found in possession of drugs from the hospital that included vials of morphine and bottles of oxycodone, hydrocodone, ondansetron, and prochlorperazine.

Cherry was arrested on charges of driving under the influence of multiple substances, possession of controlled substances, and possession of prescription drugs outside of the original containers.

He was further charged with battery under the Georgia Family Violence Act.

The theft of drugs from the hospital is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Athens-Clarke County Police Department.