Nurse's License Suspended For Writing Herself Prescriptions For Thousands Of Opioids

A Tennessee nurse had her medical license suspended after authorities discovered she used a doctor’s prescription pad to access thousands of powerful opioids. According to documents released by the Tennessee Board of Nursing, the nurse wrote herself 104 prescriptions for more than 110,000 pills.

Patricia Tillis, a former nurse at the Highston Orthopedic Clinic at TriStar Centennial, did not deny the allegations and stated them as facts in the documents. The documents revealed she wrote prescriptions for 8,764 pills of hydrocodone and 2,880 pills of Soma, a muscle relaxer, over a three-year period. Both the drugs are known to be highly addictive and ripe for abuse.

The documents stated the nurse got the medicines by using blank, pre-signed prescriptions slips that were intended for patient medicine refills, Tennessean reported. Tillis, who was working in the Highston Clinic since 2002, began using the prescriptions in 2014 and continued until she was discovered in October 2017.

Upon discovery, Tillis was fired from the clinic in October 2017 and her nursing license was eventually suspended in late August 2018. The nurse could regain her license if she enrolled in and completed the Tennessee Professional Assistance Program, which was designed to rehabilitate medical professionals who suffer from addiction.

The board found her to be “addicted to alcohol or drugs to the degree of interfering with nursing duties; guilty of unprofessional conduct; to wit: engaging in acts of dishonesty which relate to the practice of nursing,” the report said.

Robert Kraemer, her attorney, said the case was a "he said, she said" matter in which the nurse was told by a doctor it was okay to use the pre-signed prescription pads. The doctor reportedly changed the story when questioned by the Tennessee Health Department.

The attorney said she used the medication to treat long-term pain from a surgery and did not believe she had done anything wrong, but "didn't have the money to fight this.”

The suspension was revealed through a monthly announcement by the Health Department. The department maintains public records on licenses of doctors, nurses, chiropractors, massage therapists and other health care professionals throughout the state. The latest monthly report listed more than 100 disciplinary actions against doctors and nurses.

The Health Department suspended another nurse for alcohol and drug addiction last month. According to the report, Jessica Wilshire's license was suspended due to "unauthorized use or removal of narcotics, drugs, supplies, or equipment from any health care facility, school, institution, or other work place location; and engaging in acts of dishonesty which relate to the practice of nursing." She was assessed civil penalties of $400 plus costs not exceeding $1,000.

Doctors and nurses have also been suspended for unprofessional conduct, incompetence, negligence causing physical or emotional harm to a patient and dishonorable and unethical behavior.