Stolen IV morphine bags. Arrests for fraud and sexual assault. Licenses get restricted.
Abuse — sexual, of substances, of trust — runs through the stories of six medical professionals hit in February with Emergency Restriction Orders (ERO) from the Florida Department of Health.
In alphabetical order:
Brandi Kelley, Panama City, Registered Nurse — According to Kelley’s ERO, she has fought alcohol problems for several years. She pleaded no contest after a 2012 DUI arrest. In 2016, Kelley told a doctor evaluating her for the Intervention Project for Nurses, which monitors care for impaired nurses, that “she believes she is an alcoholic” and she drinks between one and one and a half bottles of wine nightly.
Kelley went into a five-year monitoring program with IPN. Though she relapsed in November 2016, she was cleared to return to work in March 2017. She failed several blood and urine screens in 2018 and eventually admitted on Nov. 30 that she’d been drinking regularly since Oct. 11. She told Dr. William Greene her consumption rate was back to a bottle to a bottle and a half per night.
Greene didn’t believe Kelley could safely handle nursing duties. He recommended more IPN monitoring with addiction treatment at “a residential or partial hospitalization program.”
Kelley didn’t do so. The restrictions “prohibit her from practicing as a nurse until IPN or an IPN-approved evaluator notifies the Department that she is safe to resume the practice of nursing.”
Brittany Norman, Jacksonville, Registered Nurse — Norman’s ERO says her “odd behavior” during shifts at Jacksonville’s Memorial Hospital sparked an audit of her controlled substance administration.
“The audit revealed that in August 2018, Ms. Norman withdrew and administered more intravenous (IV) narcotics than her counterparts, and was the only nurse administering IV morphine’ to patients during her shift,” the ERO says.
The audit found one of the IVs was entered as giving a patient per verbal orders from a doctor. The doctor said he never said that. Norman was fired for entering a verbal order without permission or approval.
After Memorial also reported Norman to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, she “admitted to a JSO detective that she diverted IN/ morphine from Memorial by administering partial doses of morphine to patients and then injecting or injecting herself with the remainder of the dose.”
She told the IPN evaluating doctor “she diverted morphine from her employer and injected the morphine into her hands. Norman explained that she became addicted to opioids after receiving IV morphine during a hospitalization.”
Norman went into Drug Felony Pre-Trial Intervention on Nov. 8 to resolve two felony counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud.
But the ERO says she didn’t enter the recommended substance abuse treatment programs. Norman can’t practice nursing legally until IPN tells the Department of Health that she’s handled her opioid addiction.
Berhane Oliver, Delray Beach, Massage Therapist — Oliver is not allowed to massage women until further notice.
According to the Boynton Beach Police Department’s probable cause affidavit and Oliver’s ERO, Oliver tried to make a deep tissue massage something else on Sept. 6 at the Healing Hands of Judah in Boynton Beach.
Female client E.C. told police she gave Oliver permission to massage her glutes, but felt he took things too far.
“The victim stated that throughout the massage, Oliver was too intimate, at times touching her butt, both breasts and even her left nipple,” the PC affidavit says, “The suspect then proceeded to put his hand under her underwear and touched her vaginal area at one point briefly penetrating her with his fingers. The victim advised that she immediately told Oliver he was being inappropriate at which time he stopped and apologized, stating that he was sorry, ‘I thought you wanted me to.’”
The affidavit says Oliver said the same thing during a phone call with E.C. as the police listened in five days later. After his arrest, the affidavit says, Oliver admitted “he rubbed her vagina with his finger thinking she wanted him. (Oliver) stated ‘I am a man and I got turned on.’”
Once E.C. called his name out, he said, he realized his mistake. The affidavit says Oliver wrote E.C. an apology letter. Oliver, 39, was arrested Sept. 11 on one count of sexual assault without physical force. He posted $25,000 bond the next day and has pleaded not guilty.
Fabiola Palomimos, Vero Beach, Certified Nursing Assistant — Palomimos, 36, is facing a felony count of exploitation of an elderly or disabled adult for between $10,000 and $50,000. (If you’re looking for the case in Indian River online court records, it’s under “Fabiola Palominos.”)
According to Palomimos’ ERO, while working as driver and nurse for 78-year-old W.C. from Aug. 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018, she swiped W.C.’s American Express card and rolled up $350.78 in charges. But Palomimos also allegedly forged or altered at least 21 of W.C.’s bank checks.
The complaint affidavit says after being alerted to obviously checks by a Merrill Lynch Fraud Investigator, Indian River County Sheriff’s Office detectives met with W.C. at her home. They went check-by-check over the work of an apparently maladroit fraudster.
Several checks had all or part of the amount printed. W.C. uses cursive when filling out her checks. Nine checks had “care giver” in the “For” section. W.C. knows “caregiver” is one word and said she never puts anything in the explanation area. She said she also knows that the number in “Four hundred” is not spelled “Fore” as it was on one $100 check was altered to $400. Detectives also noted penmanship consistency in W.C.’s checks she knows she wrote and checks they had her write in front of them.
While W.C. noticed several questionable American Express charges, two that jumped out at her were the $350.78 in Sam’s Club charges from May 26 and June 2. It wasn’t that she left home without her American Express — she didn’t leave home at all, those days. The affidavit says surveillance video, receipts and Palomimos’ Sam’s Club card shows her making those charges.
Palomimos blamed all W.C.’s accusations about the checks on W.C.’s “current state of mind.” The affidavit says she changed her story about the Sam’s Club charges several times.
Jamie Smith, Registered Nurse, Bradenton — Smith’s ERO says she admitted in October to an IPN evaluator doctor that she had been taking 10mg hits of oxycodone and hydrocodone two or three times a week since February 2018 and snorting half a gram of cocaine two to four times a month.
The doctor recommended treatment “at a facility with community housing and expertise in treating healthcare professionals” and “entering into a monitoring contract with IPN.” Smith hasn’t done that. So, her nursing license is suspended.
Jennifer Smith, Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern, Umatilla — Smith’s ERO says she was a counselor at The Recovery Village, a substance abuse rehabilitation center until Aug. 9, 2018.
A coworker “noticed Smith’s behavior changed in the afternoon and observed bottles of alcohol in Smith’s purse. TRV staff requested to view the contents of Ms. Smith’s purse and discovered partially emptied bottles of alcohol and prescription pills.”
When staff asked her for urine to analyze, Smith said she didn’t think she’d pass it, so she wouldn’t do it. The Recovery Village put her in a taxi home and fired her.
In December, during a Professionals Resource Network doctor’s evaluation, Smith admitted to a 2013 DUI conviction and that “recurrent alcohol use” affected her relationships and work; and that she’d was down to drinking once or twice a month. But, the ERO says, her blood and urine test indicated heavy drinking in the previous four-to-six weeks.
Smith hasn’t gotten into the recommended treatment or entered into a PRN monitoring contract. Until a PRN evaluator tells the Department of Health otherwise, Smith’s prohibited from being a mental health counselor.
This story was originally published March 3, 2019 at 4:41 PM.
