A former hospital pharmacist accused of replacing patients' morphine with saline to feed his addiction was allowed into drug court Monday, despite the prosecutor's strong objections.
Frederick McLeish, 54, of Egg Harbor Township, admitted that he used morphine while it was entrusted to him at Shore Medical Center in Somers Point.
He will begin drug court Tuesday, and faces eight years in prison if he does not successfully complete the program. He also gave up his pharmaceutical license.
After McLeish's arrest last year on criminal charges, Shore Medical Center sent a letter warning more than 200 patients from 2013 and 2014 of their possible exposure to HIV, hepatitis C and hepatitis B. That led to a class-action suit that is still pending.
Before pleading guilty, Superior Court Judge Mark Sandson cleared the way for McLeish to get into drug court, which he oversees in Atlantic County. Starting Wednesday, he will also presid over Cape May counties.
McLeish's 30-year pharmaceutical career is marked by about a half-dozen license suspensions and trips to rehabilitation due to his drug addiction, records show.
"While he may well be a person who is sick and drug defendant, there should be consequences" on behalf of the 244 victims, Assistant Prosecutor Tracey O'Brien told Sandson.
But O'Brien's tale of a man who admits to his addiction every time he gets caught, succeeds in treatment, returns to work and eventually to his addiction is basically the story of all addicts, the judge said.
"Isn't that a description of every single person we have in drug court?" he asked.
Sandson said he believes McLeish is a right fit for drug court.
"He absolutely needs drug court," defense attorney John Zarych said. "He needs the structure. He needs the supervision. ...He needs to say alive."
Outside the courtroom, Zarych said they were "pleased with the just and appropriate result."
"The problems experienced by Mr. McLeish in this case are the result of one thing, a serious and persistent addiction," he said.
While there was disagreement in this case, Zarych said "the judges, drug court team, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office and the defense bar are all fighting this battle together."
"We may have some disagreements but we are all united in the fight to save the lives of the citizens who are addicted to alcohol, opiates and other dangerous substances," he said. "No one chooses addiction as a way of life and drug court is a means, and a very effective one, to help alcoholics and addicts live the life free of alcohol and drugs."
