Putnam LPN Withheld Nursing Home Residents' Medications: NY AG

BREWSTER, NY — A licensed practical nurse faces charges for allegedly failing to give three residents of the Putnam Ridge Nursing Home the medicines they had been prescribed. Not only that, she claimed in their medical records that she had, prosecutors allege.

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced the arrest of Stacy E. McAdams Thursday.

McAdams, 47, was at the time employed by Putnam Ridge Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Prosecutors allege that she failed to administer anti-seizure medication to a resident with a history of seizures, anticoagulant medication to a resident at risk for blood clots, and blood pressure and heart medication to a resident with congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Then, they say, McAdams made entries into each of the residents’ records, falsely indicating that she had administered the medication.

“Nurses have a fundamental duty to properly administer essential medications to residents in their care and to truthfully record the circumstances,” said Schneiderman in the announcement. “Neglecting care for our most vulnerable citizens will not be tolerated by my office.”

A felony complaint filed in the Town of Southeast Justice Court by the Attorney General’s Office charges McAdams, of Pawling, with three counts of Endangering the Welfare of an Incompetent or Physically Disabled Person in the First Degree, a class E Felony; three counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, a class E Felony; and three counts of Wilful Violation of Health Laws, a Misdemeanor. The complaint alleges that between June 10, 2017 and June 14, 2017, McAdams failed to administer medications to three residents assigned to her care.

McAdams, who pleaded not guilty, was arraigned Thursday before Southeast Town Justice Gregory L. Folchetti and was released on her own recognizance.

The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

The case was investigated by Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) Sr. Investigator Frank Bluszcz under the supervision of Supervising Investigator Peter Markiewicz and Deputy Chief Investigator Kenneth Morgan.
The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Catherine Slattery of the MFCU Pearl River Regional Office with the assistance of Regional Director Anne Jardine. Thomas O’Hanlon is the Chief of Criminal Investigations-Downstate. The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is led by Director Amy Held and Assistant Deputy Attorney General Paul Mahoney.

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