By Jesse Leavenworth
The Hartford Courant
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — Police say a registered nurse at a local advanced-care facility forged prescriptions for painkillers.
Melissa Tackett, 44, of Middletown, was arrested and faces two counts of second-degree forgery, among other charges. Police say Tackett was fired from her job at Westside Care Center after her arrest.
Officer John Decker went to the facility on Bidwell Street Tuesday to investigate a complaint of forged prescriptions for oxycodone. An advance-practice nurse at the center said Tackett had falsified her signature on two scripts for the opioids, according to police.
A pharmacist filled one oxycodone prescription, but became suspicious and did not fill the other, Decker wrote his report.
Tackett, who had access to the nursing supervisors’ office, where blank prescription pads are stored, took delivery of 30 oxycodone pills of 5 milligrams each, police said.
When confronted about the forged prescription, she surrendered the drugs to the staff, but eight pills were missing, Decker wrote. A tearful Tackett admitted to the forgeries and said she had taken the missing pills, he wrote.
“Tackett said she struggles with addiction to painkillers and has recently relapsed,” the officer wrote.
Westside Center staff notified the state regarding Tackett’s nursing license, the report said.
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