“You’re gonna have to man up here and take some of the pain because we can’t give you a lot of medication.”

That’s what Sarah May Casareto, RN, is alleged to have said to a patient who screamed in pain during his November 8 surgery at Abbot Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. Turns out, she couldn’t give him more of his medication because she had taken it herself prior to surgery.

The patient, undergoing surgery for kidney stones, received just 150 of the 500 micrograms of fentanyl due to be administered for his surgery. According to hospital staff, Casareto appeared intoxicated during the surgery and slurred her speech. The patient reported the incident to police on December 4 asking for an investigation of Casareto and the hospital. Staff later found out that Casareto had empty syringes in her pocket with the labels peeled off.

Casareto resigned from the hospital rather than taking a drug test, admitting to the police that she has a pain medication problem. She has been a licensed nurse in Minnesota since 2006. The case is under investigation.