STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

FLORIDA STATE BOARD OF NURSING, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 77-639

)

LUCY A. PANTZER, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

The matter came on for hearing in Miami Beach, Florida, before the Division of Administrative Hearings by its duly designated Hearing Officer, Robert T. Benton, II, on May 28, 1977. Respondent made no appearance. Petitioner appeared through its counsel.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Mr. Julius Finegold, Esquire

1005 Blackstone Building

323 East Bay Street Jacksonville, Florida 32202

For Respondent: No appearance was made.

By administrative complaint filed March 4, 1977, petitioner accused respondent, a registered nurse, of appropriating from her employer, Mount Sinai Hospital, 50 mg. of Demerol and injecting herself with it on or about January 21, 1977; and of "admitt[ing] that she had been an addict for approximately one year."

FINDINGS OF FACT

On January 21, 1977, respondent was employed as a registered nurse by Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach, Florida. She and Ms. Nancy Sewak were working together in the labor and delivery department of the hospital, attending the single patient under their care that night, a newly delivery mother resting in the recovery room. Respondent had the keys to the narcotics Box. Ms. Sewak heard respondent unlocking the narcotics box, which aroused her suspicions.

Shortly after respondent had left it, Ms. Sewak inspected the medicine room and noticed a bottle of sterile water standing by itself on a counter. From the medicine room, she went to the head obstetrics nurse, Ms. Sandra Sazlow Spiegel who, in turn, approached Mr. Ledon, Chief of Safety and Security at the hospital.

Ms. Spiegel went to the door of a bathroom where she had been told she could find respondent. When she knocked, respondent answered, "just a minute," and the people standing outside the door heard the toilet being flushed several times. Ms. Spiegel left the vicinity of the bathroom, but Ms. Sewak and Mr.

Ledon entered after respondent left and found in the wastebasket a wet alcohol sponge, a piece of Chix with fresh blood spots, and paper towels. Later Ms.

Sewak saw respondent in the medicine room holding a 3 cc syringe filled with clear liquid, and asked her what the syringe contained. Respondent answered, "I guess I better label this as 50 mg. of Demerol," and did so.

At Ms. Spiegel's request, respondent came to the nursing office where she and Ms. Marcia Fetterman, Assistant Director of Nursing at Mount Sinai Hospital, questioned her. They had a 3 cc syringe which respondent identified as the one she had labelled "50 mg. of Demerol." Ms. Fetterman asked her whether it would be necessary for them to send the syringe to the lab for analysis of its contents. Respondent said that would not be necessary and admitted the syringe contained sterile water. She further admitted that she had injected herself with Demerol earlier in the evening, and had been taking Demerol for over a year. Respondent offered to pay for the Demerol.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

Respondent is guilty of [u]nprofessional conduct" within the meaning of Section 464.21(b), Florida Statutes (1975), and of "the possession of [a] controlled substanc[e] . . . for . . .[il]legitimate purposes, "within the meaning of Section 464.21(l)(d), Florida Statutes (1975).

Petitioner did not prove "[h]abitual intemperance or addiction" within the meaning of Section 464.21)1)(c), Florida Statutes (1975). There was no evidence that respondent was addicted to Demerol or even that Demerol is addictive; and there was no evidence as to the frequency with which respondent took Demerol.

Petitioner did not prove that respondent was likely to "cause harm to other persons," within the meaning of Section 464.21(l)(f), Florida Statutes (1975).

Ms. Sewak testified that respondent checked on the single patient under her care immediately before opening the narcotics box. There was no indication the respondent's mislabeling the syringe was anything other than an isolated incident, a temporary ploy intended to throw off her suspicious coworkers.

RECOMMENDATION

Upon consideration of the foregoing, it is RECOMMENDED:

That respondent's license, No. 69273-2, be suspended for one year; and thereafter until she shall furnish the Board her affidavit reciting that she has abstained from using Demerol during the period of the suspension.

DONE AND ORDERED in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida, this 21st day of June, 1977.

ROBERT T. BENTON, II

Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings Collins Building

Tallahassee, Florida 32301

(904) 488-9675

Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 21st day of June, 1977.

COPIES FURNISHED:

Lucy A. Pantzer, R.N.

915 N. Wilton Pl. Apt 311

Los Angeles, California 90038

Julius Finegold, Esquire 1005 Blackstone Building

233 East Bay Street Jacksonville, Florida 32201

Helen P. Keefe

State Board of Nursing

6501 Arlington Expressway, Bldg. B Jacksonville, Florida 32211

Docket for Case No: 77-000639

Orders for Case No: 77-000639