Nurses face felony charges in two cases

In two separate cases, nurses have been charged with not properly dispensing medication to residents in nursing home care in Ripley County. Felony charges have been filed.

In a case that was investigated by Craig Whited with the Drug Diversion division of the Indiana Office of the Attorney General, a Ripley County nursing facility has been named as having a nurse that took medication from patient(s).

An active warrant was issued for the arrest of Christopher M. Horton, 47, Osgood, who was a Registered Nurse (RN) at Ripley Crossing from April 4, 2024, until he was terminated on August 27, 2024, according to an Affidavit for Probable Cause filed September 2 in Ripley County Superior Court. He was arrested Monday, September 8, according to jail records.

Horton has been charged with three felonies: Obtaining a Controlled Substance by Fraud, Failure to Make, Keep, or Furnish a Record, and Furnishing False or Fraudulent Information, along with a Theft charge – a Class a Misdemeanor.

All of that came about after a shift change where Horton was questioned about giving a specific resident the medication, which in this instance was hydrocodone. Facility administration began an internal investigation where they found discrepancies when it came to Horton dispensing medication.

In the PC it notes, “RN Horton eventually broke down, put his face into his hands, began crying, and admitted that he took the hydrocodone home, and that he has a problem.” Administrator Trina Johnson, Director of Nursing Rebecca Robins, and Assistant Director of Nursing Abby Morehead all reported they heard RN Horton say he took the medication.

The Affidavit states that Horton was terminated from his job at the Milan long-term care facility at 1200 Whitlatch Way.

In another case involving The Waters of Batesville, Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) Shea Montique, 50 of Brookville, has an active warrant for her arrest. Montique has been charged with Failure to Make, Keep, or Furnish a Record, and Obtaining a Controlled Substance by Fraud or Deceit, both level 6 felonies.

This case is being investigated by Sarah A. Shoup Drug Diversion Investigator for the Office of the Indiana Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Montique was employed with The Waters of Batesville from January 2024 through March 2024 when she was terminated.

Court records reveal that Montique had undergone extensive education on the proper procedure for dispensing and administrating narcotics. She had also been the MDS Coordinator at the Brookville Healthcare Center.

Several discrepancies involving Montique’s administration and documentation practices were found after the Batesville facility began investigating. There were multiple days where medication was dispersed by Montique with no documentation of administration nor waste. In other words, she had not written down giving the medication to the patient(s) or writing in the record that they had refused the meds. This medicine included Lorazepam, Tramadol, Oxycodone, Pregablin, Dronabinol, Hydrocodone and more.

In one part of the filed court paperwork, it noted that she (Montique) had been given a urine drug screen that showed positive for methamphetamine. Another time she tested positive for opioids. She said she felt the test was inaccurate, but she didn’t choose to have it administered in another facility as was offered. Also, a review of her prescription medications showed no opioid narcotic medications were prescribed to Montique during 2024.

The Director of Nursing at The Waters noted that Montique had been a nurse for a long time. She said Montique was well trained at the facility and that many times she did properly document and dispense the medication as required.

Editor’s note: As of press time, Montique had not been arrested. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.