Doctor tells court 'hearing charges brings me back to dark time in my life when addiction was at the very forefront'
Doctor who forged prescriptions to feed opioid addiction escapes conviction with hefty donation to addiction services
A doctor who appeared in court charged with the theft of prescription pads from three major hospitals and the use of forged prescriptions for oxycontin in pharmacies throughout the midlands has escaped a conviction after paying a sum of €15,000 to Merchant’s Quay Ireland.
In March, Daniel Nevin (39), of Greenpark Meadows, Mullingar, County Westmeath entered guilty pleas to 10 sample counts on the indictment, including theft of prescription pads from Galway University Hospital and Midlands Regional Hospital Mullingar, forgery of prescriptions and using false prescriptions between July 2021 and June 2024.
On the same day, his partner and co-accused, Rebecca Moylan (35), of the same address, pleaded guilty to the theft of a prescription pad from St James’s Hospital, James Street, Dublin 8, and to using false prescriptions at pharmacies across the midlands between September 2023 and May 2024.
Judge Keenan Johnson, following a lengthy sentence hearing at Mullingar Circuit Court, said that the couple were the victims of their own crime, and stated that the case did not meet the threshold for a custodial sentence.
He noted the pressures of a medical career, stating that “superhuman” doctors often do not get the care and support they need when carrying out their duties, which often include numerous 24-hour shifts in the space of a week.
Dr Nevin, he said, had not done any harm to his patients and had, in fact, stepped back from his duties to ensure his own addiction did not put them at risk.
He made the order that Mr Nevin pay a sum of €15,000 to the Merchants Quay Project, which offers addiction support and rehabilitation. Ms Moylan was ordered to pay a sum of €5,000 to the same organisation, and did so in July of last year.
Mr Nevin appeared at the current sittings of Mullingar Circuit Court, having paid the €15,000, and the Probation Act was applied.
In total Dr Nevin was facing 49 charges, including two for theft of prescription pads, while Ms Moylan was facing 32 charges.
Dr Nevin was arrested on July 11, 2024, and admitted to taking prescription pads from the two hospitals and forging the prescriptions before having his partner tender a large number of them on his behalf.
Neither of the accused had any previous convictions, the court heard, and both were highly respected in their field – Dr Nevin as a doctor, and Ms Moylan as a nurse.
Dr Nevin, taking to the witness box, told Colm Smyth, SC, that “hearing those charges brings me back to a very dark time in my life when addiction was at the very forefront”.
He outlined that his addiction dated back to November 2019 and that the “stresses and strains” of work had a large part to play, with obligations to work up to three 24-hour shifts per week.
He spent a short time working as an anesthesiologist but stepped back from the role because “my conscience didn’t allow me to continue – I didn’t want to do harm to a patient, so I stepped away”.
“It’s not a discipline that goes well with someone who has an addiction,” he said. “I couldn’t live with myself if I harmed someone.”
His passion now lies in medical education, he said, and he has received multiple glowing references, including one from Professor David Lloyd of the University of South Australia, stating that Dr Nevin “has such talent that should be put to the benefit of the community”.
Dr Nevin stressed to the court that, while he is “painfully aware” of his actions: “I don’t think it reflects who I am as a person. I believe I have something more to offer the community as a whole.”
Judge Johnson noted the “significant number of offences” and that they were “repeat offences”, which were “driven by addiction”.
“Opioid addiction is a well recognised phenomenon. It has become a problem in America, where hundreds of thousands of people have been affected, and it is a cause for many premature deaths,” he said.
“It is often said that desperate people do desperate things. Addiction is a terrible affliction.”
He stressed that the offences before the court were an abuse of the integrity of the prescription system, but that in this case, Dr Nevin abused the system for his own benefit and did not cause harm to anyone else.
Dr Nevin is a “high achiever” who has done “exceptionally well, both academically and in medicine”, the judge said. He noted the pressures of the career and said it is “extraordinary that someone is required to do three 24-hour shifts in one week”.
“That is superhuman. It is a hugely, hugely stressful environment, and often the support and care that doctors themselves need in the course of their duties is not available.
“I’m satisfied both have paid a huge price for their actions. Both have lost their positions and their reputations,” said Judge Johnson, adding that “the offending does not meet the custodial threshold”.