Former councillor uses $7M in state funds to support addiction

May 05, 2017 News

Most addictions are expensive. But usually this price is to be borne by the addict. It is a special situation when the State is bearing the cost of someone’s addiction. However, that is the interesting story of Carol Joseph and her addiction

Carol Joseph

to Pethidine. The financial burden has been placed on the backs of the taxpayers of Guyana.
Joseph, a former Councillor on the Region Five Democratic Council, has been accused of using her political status, to access frequent injections at the Fort Wellington Hospital in Berbice.
Pethidine is also known as Demerol. Investigations reveal that Joseph has been on the drug for just about nine years. Her first recorded dose was administered in 2008. Documents seen by Kaieteur News prove that she has been administered at least 1000 fixes over the years.
Carol Joseph was being fed Pethidine every single day since October. During that period alone, she was given over 200 doses. Some days the drug- dependent councilor was administered more than one dose.
A shot of Pethdine is sold for US$35. Initially, Joseph was receiving a 50mg injection of Pethidine. Her need, which continues to be met by medical professionals, has grown to as much as 200mg of Pethidine, per day. This is the case even when the maximum dose of Pethidine is supposed to be 100mg.
The frequent doses are no longer being administered to Joseph via painful injections, but rather, “a central line that has been placed in her neck, which takes the drug directly through her vein intravenously (via IV).”
Carol Joseph resigned from her post as a Councillor on the Region Five Democratic Council following the revelations made by whistleblower nurse, Sherilyn Marks.
The midwife, who had been tasked with administering Pethidine injections to the drug-dependent Joseph, lodged a complaint with health authorities, both at the level of Central Government, and the regional department.
The woman was being fed excessive doses of Pethidine everyday, even amid a drug shortage that was being experienced in the region.
After no action was taken, Marks followed up with another correspondence in December 2016.
Nurse Marks complained that Joseph was using her position as Council to ensure access to large amounts of the narcotic medication.
Having exhausted all other avenues, Marks decided to highlight her plight via a letter to the press.
After the piece she penned was published, the young woman received a letter from the Regional Health Office, saying that she was being transferred from Fort Wellington Hospital to the Bath/Experiment Health Centre, effective yesterday, April 20, 2017.
The letter sought to inform Marks that her transfer was done “in an effort to establish good vaccination coverage within this catchment area.”
However, many linked the transfer to a form of victimization against the nurse, who, in this case, acted as a whistleblower.

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