California respiratory care practitioner's license revoked after nursing board discipline for possessing controlled substances and false hospital records

2017-03-25 Earlier Cases 2015-2017

By Alex Rodriguez, MHIIM, CPhT — ASHP Drug Diversion Certificate faculty

A California practitioner who held both a registered nursing license and a respiratory care license was disciplined by the Board of Registered Nursing for obtaining or possessing a controlled substance without a prescription, using a controlled substance in a manner dangerous to self or others, and making false or grossly incorrect entries in a hospital record.

The Respiratory Care Board of California then brought its own action based on that nursing discipline. The board's published summary does not identify the controlled substance, the hospital, or how the conduct came to light.

The practitioner did not contest the respiratory care board's action, and the board issued a default decision and order revoking the respiratory care license effective March 25, 2017. Under California law, discipline by another health licensing board is itself a ground for action against a respiratory care license.

Case at a Glance

role: Respiratory care practitioner who also held a registered nursing license
regulator: Respiratory Care Board of California, based on prior Board of Registered Nursing discipline
drug: Controlled substance (not specified in the board summary)
outcome: Respiratory care license revoked by default decision and order

Primary source: https://rcb.ca.gov/enforcement/discactions/jan17_mar17_discactions.pdf

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Last reviewed: September 2026 · Educational content, not legal advice.

About the author

DivertGuard is built and maintained by Alex Rodriguez, MHIIM, CPhT (also known as Jesus Rodriguez) — a healthcare compliance analytics professional with more than a decade in pharmacy practice and direct responsibility for a health-system controlled substance diversion prevention program.

IHFDA Annual Conference presentations

2025 — The Rounding Revolution: A High-Tech Approach to Diversion Prevention (with Emily Spiceland, PharmD)
2024 — No Pill Left Behind: Strategies for Comprehensive Drug Accountability (with Eric Andrews)
2022 — Ready for My Close Up! Implementing, Maintaining, and Expanding Drug Diversion Prevention Cameras (with Jeremy Quinn, Shawn Young, and John Bailey)

Other professional engagement

Faculty, ASHP Drug Diversion Certificate
Speaker, Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)
Published author, Pharmacy Purchasing & Products

Credentials

MHIIM — Master of Health Informatics and Information Management, University of Tennessee Health Science Center (2019–2021)
CPhT — Certified Pharmacy Technician, with 10+ years of pharmacy practice across retail, hospice, compounding, home-health, and hospital settings

The assessment items, weighting, and case registry behind this site come from that operational background — building and running a diversion prevention program, not from vendor marketing. Every tool here is free, requires no signup, and is based on published regulatory and professional standards (DEA, Joint Commission, ASHP, CDC).

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