Board disciplines Wallingford, Hamden nurses

The state Board of Examiners for Nursing on Wednesday disciplined five nurses, including three advanced practice registered nurses for inappropriately prescribing drugs to family members.

The board reprimanded the license of Joan Landino, an APRN from Wallingford, because in 2015 she inappropriately prescribed a controlled substance to a family member without documenting a medical evaluation of the person, according to a consent order to which she agreed.

In 2016, she also failed to secure her prescription pad and inappropriately prescribed stimulants and benzodiazepines, a category of drugs that includes Valium, to patients, the order said. She also prescribed controlled substances to patients without documenting a justification for the prescriptions, the order states.

Landino’s license will be on probation until she completes courses in prescribing practices and documentation standards, and she is restricted from prescribing any medication for herself, family members or friends except in an emergency, the order states.

In 2016, Landino entered into an agreement with the state Department of Consumer Protection’s Drug Control Division in which she agreed not to dispense controlled substances. Under the agreement with the nursing board, if DCP ever gives her back her registration to dispense controlled substances, her prescribing practices must be monitored for six months by a licensed physician or APRN, the consent order said.

The board also reprimanded the license of Jane Buckley, another APRN from Wallingford, because she inappropriately prescribed controlled substances to a family member in 2015 and 2016 without maintaining medical records for the relative, according to a consent order she agreed to. The board also barred her from prescribing or dispensing medication for herself, family or friends except in an emergency, the order said. Buckley was also ordered her to take courses in proper prescribing practices and medical documentation.

The board also reprimanded the license of a third APRN, John Roy of Hamden, for inappropriately prescribing controlled substances in 2015 and 2016 to two family members without maintaining appropriate medical records, a consent order he agreed to said.

Roy is barred from prescribing medication for himself, his family or friends except in an emergency under the order. His license will be on probation until he completes courses in prescribing practices and documentation, the order said. In 2016, he reached an agreement with the Drug Control Division to not prescribe controlled substances for himself or relatives except in an emergency, the consent order cover sheet said.

While admitting no wrongdoing, all three APRNs chose not to contest the allegations against them.

The board placed the licensed practical nursing license of Presley Eze of West Hartford on probation for four years and ordered him to undergo random drug tests. Given the evidence from a hearing, the board determined Eze is safe to practice nursing, its memorandum of decision states.

In 2016, the board had suspended Eze’s license for testing positive that summer while on a previous four-year probation, records show. Eze has a long history of discipline by the board, and in 2011, he was high on PCP when he brandished a long sword outside the Trader Joe’s store in West Hartford, records show. He has been arrested four times since then, records show.

The board reinstated the registered nurse license of Siobhan Doherty of the Cobalt section of East Hampton and placed it on probation for four years. A consent order she agreed to says she has a history of abusing controlled substances and alcohol.

In 2015, the Florida Board of Nursing had suspended her license there after she pleaded no contest to two counts of driving under the influence and one count of refusing to submit to testing, the consent order cover sheet said. She pleaded guilty to trespassing, the cover sheet said.

Doherty’s drug and alcohol tests have been negative since July 2017, records show. During the probation, she must pass random drug and alcohol tests, takes a course in professional ethics and provide employer reports to the state Department of Public Health. While not admitting to breaking any laws, Doherty chose not to contest the allegations against her, the consent order said.

In other business, the board unanimously voted to take Central Connecticut State University’s registered nursing program off conditional status. It had been placed on conditional status in 2016 and again in 2017 because fewer than 80 percent of its graduates passed the national nursing licensing exam on the first try. Central’s rate is now higher than 80 percent