Nurse Voluntarily Surrenders License After Being Charged with Abusing Heroin and Cocaine: Report

NEW FAIRFIELD, CT — The Board of Examiners for Nursing recently disciplined 13 nurses, including one from New Fairfield, according to the Connecticut Health I-Team.

In almost all of the incidents, the nurses were found to have been abusing drugs, the report showed.

Gregory Klimaytis, an R.N. from Redding, had his license revoked for violating the terms of a four-year probation imposed in 2013 by failing drug tests three times, the report said.

The board withdrew charges of abusing heroin or cocaine against Debra Leonard, a former R.N. from New Fairfield, because she voluntarily surrendered her license, according to C-HIT.

The board revoked the license of Rachel Brazee, an R.N. from Warren who worked at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport. In 2015 it was found that she could not perform procedures due to hand and/or body tremors and anxiety. She also abused marijuana, records show.

The C-HIT said that the board suspended the license of Holly Cocchiola, an L.P.N. from Bethlehem, who tested positive for heroin after a car accident on Feb. 14. The report shows her license was placed on a three-year probation in 2001 due to substance abuse and forging prescriptions for Percocet, state records show.

To read the full report and all nurses who were disciplined, click here to be redirected to the Connecticut Health I-Team website.