IOWA CITY, Iowa – A nurse from Williamsburg is accused of trying to pick up painkiller prescriptions that belong to patients.
Jessica DeBrower, 32, reportedly worked for Mercy Iowa City in a visiting nurse program.
DeBrower allegedly tried to fill a patient’s prescription for oxycodone on May 12, 2016; when she tried to pick up the medication the next day, the pharmacy pulled the prescription before she could get it. DeBrower also allegedly tried to pick up another patient’s prescription for hydrocodone on May 17; when the patient’s family called her she panicked and threw the medication away, according to complaints filed by police.
DeBrower was charged with prohibited possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a prescription drug, the complaints said.
Court records showed she was arrested by police at University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics after a warrant was issued for her May 26; DeBrower was later released on a recognizance bond and ordered to appear in court June 13.
Nursing board records showed DeBrower had her nursing license put on probation for a year, from October 2014 to October 2015, after disciplinary action for misappropriating patient property; that discipline reportedly followed her admission to taking a patient’s medication when she worked at a long-term care facility.
