Fate of Florida Teen Charged For Posing As Physician's Assistant Unknown

A Florida teenager faces felony charges for allegedly masquerading as a physician assistant at a local hospital.

Matthew Scheidt, 17, fooled officials at the Osceola Regional Medical Center, where he performed CPR on a cardiac patient, removed an IV, accessed private charts and examined disrobed male patients, according to ABC News.

On Sept. 2, Scheidt of St. Cloud, a city near the Orlando theme parks, was arrested, and charged with five counts of impersonating a physician assistant, a third degree felony.

The teen, who was released into the custody of his mother over the weekend, first raised alarms on Aug. 31 when he tried to gain access to other restricted areas of the hospital, according to Stacie Miller, public information officer for the Kissimmee Police Department.

Miller said she had no information about any patient being harmed by Scheidt. To my knowledge, nobody was injured but I don't know the patients' conditions.

Scheidt was ordered to appear in court on Tuesday.

He was able to go hands-on with a couple of patients. He changed bandages. There was one report where he did a physical examination on some disrobed male patients. There's a report where he possibly did chest compressions for about five minutes to a cardiac patient, Miller said.

According to Miller, Scheidt had been working as a billing clerk at a Kissimmee doctor's office and managed to obtain a hospital access badge in his own name from the medical center.

The Osceola Regional Medical Center issued a statement saying that patients treated in the ER during the time Scheidt was there received the medical care they needed, and that they are reviewing hospital practices to ensure this doesn't happen again.

Miller said Scheidt told people in the emergency room that he was a student from Nova University who was at the hospital to shadow physician's assistants as part of his clinical education.

By him asking for more access to the hospital areas, it raised a red flag. The hospital contacted us immediately, said Miller, who noted that his potential penalty if convicted is uncertain since his case could be handled in juvenile court.

Each of the five charges against him is a third-degree felony, according to authorities.