Delaware nurse used a physician's DEA number to obtain Xanax for herself; licenses later permanently revoked

In late 2008 a nurse licensed in Delaware illegally obtained a physician's Drug Enforcement Administration registration number, impersonated that physician, and ordered Xanax prescriptions in her own name. She was arrested on December 9, 2008 and charged with Obtaining a Controlled Substance by Misrepresentation, Fraud, Forgery or Deception and with Criminal Impersonation. On February 12, 2009 she pled guilty to one count of Obtaining a Controlled Substance by Deception, and the conviction became effective when she did not complete the terms of a drug diversion program.

The Delaware Department of Justice then filed a complaint with the Board of Nursing. The nurse did not appear at the first hearing in February 2011, but the Board granted her request for a second hearing in April 2011, at which she admitted the conduct, apologized and accepted responsibility. In a May 12, 2011 order the Board found that she had been convicted of a crime substantially related to nursing, was unfit to practice, and had committed unprofessional conduct, including diverting, possessing, obtaining and administering prescription drugs to herself without authorization. The Board suspended her licenses, with probation to follow on completion of a treatment program.

From June 2011 through the end of January 2012, while the suspension was in place and her appeal was pending, she worked as a nurse. The Department of Justice filed a second complaint, and on October 9, 2013 the Board found further unprofessional conduct and permanently revoked her nursing licenses. She did not appeal that order.

The Governor pardoned the criminal conviction in 2015, and in 2016 she applied for licensure by reinstatement and by examination. The Board denied both applications in January 2017 on the ground that the permanent revocation, which rested on practicing while suspended rather than on the pardoned conviction, made her ineligible. The Superior Court affirmed on September 8, 2017, rejecting her equal-protection argument, and the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed in 2018.