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Iowan who allegedly stole grandmother’s painkillers denied a nursing license
['Clark Kauffman', 'More From Author', '- December']
Date: 2021-12-22 00:00:00
The Iowa Board of Nursing has refused to reinstate the license of a man accused of masquerading as a medical-waste trash collector in order to access opioids.
Board records indicate the nursing license of Theodore Herrick of Jefferson was indefinitely suspended in 2017. According to the board, Herrick had entered the Stuart Community Care Center, a state-licensed nursing home, on Oct 1, 2016, and claimed to be an employee of a medical-waste disposal company, stating he was there to pick up the facility’s “sharps containers,” which typically consist of discarded needles, syringes and used patches that deliver time-controlled doses of fentanyl – a strong opioid pain killer.
Board records indicate an employee of the home took down the license plate number of Herrick’s car, which was registered to Herrick’s mother. Herrick was later identified on a video surveillance recording, according to the board.
In denying Herrick’s recent request for reinstatement of his license, the board noted that he had admitted an opiate addiction to a board investigator. The board said was “unknown” if and when Herrick abused drugs or whether he had “honestly engaged in treatment.”’
Court records indicate that in April 2016, several months before the alleged incident at Stuart Community Care Center, Herrick was arrested and charged with prohibited acts for allegedly going to the Regency Park Nursing & Rehabilitation Center on at least two occasions and removing fentanyl patches from the body of his grandmother, who was residing at the home. He also was charged with stealing hydrocodone, a narcotic, from his mother.
Herrick pleaded guilty to a single count of prohibited acts. He was sentenced to probation and shortly thereafter was found to be in violation of his probation. The probation violation charge was dismissed by prosecutors after Herrick pleaded guilty to an unrelated charge of driving while barred.
In 2018, Herrick was placed on the state registry of dependent-adult abusers, although he was never criminally charged with that offense. A judge later ruled the state had provided Herrick with insufficient notice of his appeal rights and reversed the state’s actions so that a hearing on the matter could be held.
Other nurses who have recently been sanctioned by the Iowa Board of Nursing include:
— Sheila Young of Ankeny, who was accused of violating board orders and misrepresenting her credentials. According to the board, Young’s nursing license was suspended and then placed on probation in 2009 due to findings that she stolen Percocet, an opioid, from her employer.
In 2015, while employed at an unspecified hospital, Young allegedly stole Percocet from her employer and then falsely charted that the medications had been given to patients. Again, her license was suspended, and then remained in that status through 2020 at a time when Young allegedly continued to use the credentials “RN,” signifying she was a licensed, registered nurse. The board has ordered Young to surrender all nursing licenses and license-renewal cards.
— Angela Jennings of Inwood, who was accused by the board of having her nursing privileges restricted by another state. Board records indicate that in 2005, Jennings’ Iowa license was placed on probation due her practicing nursing while impaired. In 2018, the board again placed her license on probation after she was criminally convicted of unlawful possession of a prescription drug, hydrocodone.
In 2020, her license was suspended for failure to comply with the board’s order to abstain from alcohol. That same year, the South Dakota licensing board suspended Jennings’ license in that state for failure to complete a treatment program. The Iowa board voted recently to indefinitely suspend Jennings’ Iowa license.
— Jenna West of Glenwood, who was accused of practicing nursing without an Iowa license; practicing nursing while under the influence of alcohol or illicit drugs, and committing an act that may adversely affect the health of a patient. According to the board, West’s Nebraska nursing license was placed on probation in 2018 due to her felony conviction for acquiring a controlled substance by fraud, a charge that stemmed from allegations that she took a patient’s opioid pain killer for her own use.
She was subsequently hired by an Iowa nursing home – the board doesn’t publicly identify the home – although she wasn’t licensed to work in Iowa at that time. While working at the home, the board alleges, she left a hypodermic needle in a resident’s chair; left medications unattended in the home; was unable to reconcile her medication counts; left some residents’ medications documented as having never been administered, and failed to document residents’ assessments.
On May 1 of this year, the board alleges, she was on duty and working while impaired, as evidenced by her behavior and witnesses’ observations. West has agreed to surrender her nursing license. It’s not clear how she was hired at the Iowa nursing home given Iowa’s legal requirements for background checks on job applicants.
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