Portland, OR Vet Admits Stealing Animal Pain Meds, Replaced Them With Saline

This has to be one of, if not the most, unusual drug cases we've ever seen.

DEA Lays Out Evidence Against Portland Vet

Federal Officials announced Tuesday, January 20th, that a Portland-area vet will get 60 months of supervised probation for her role in diverting animal paid meds for personal use.

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Multnomah County Court documents and the DEA indicated in 2024, Dr. Brenda Brown-Carlson was seen on surveillance video emptying syringes of animal meds into other containers, then filling the empty vials with useless saline.

The DEA the drugs in question were:

"...hydromorphone, a Schedule II controlled substance,  buprenorphine, a Schedule III controlled substance, and butorphanol, a Schedule IV controlled substance, for her own use."

The DEA said this resulted in a number of animals who underwent surgery received compromised pain medicines, threatening their well-being and also hurting their recovery. Officials said her diversion afftected an estimated 200 animals.

These narcotics are powerful medicines, sometimes even used in human variants for excessive pain, even on some cancer patients.

Brown reportedly denied the theft,  even after being shown the video evidence, and the DEA says she showed little remorse. She pleaded guilty to multiple drug charges, including tampering.  Co-workers became suspicious of discrepancies in the clinic's computerized medicine dispensing data, and they began to investigate, leading to the video surveillance checks.

Beside the federal charges, Brown is also facing action from the State Veterinary Board and the DEA says civil actions are likely to be started against her as well.

The DEA did not list what clinic Brown worked for.

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