Oregon Nurse Faces Charges for Withholding Patients’ Prescribed Pain Meds

A Springfield nurse, Cari Lin Mallette, who worked at  Marquis Care, a Springfield assisted living and rehabilitation facility, has appeared in the Lane County Circuit Court on claims that she took medication meant for patients at the facility.

Mallette was charged with second-degree criminal mistreatment on Friday after several Marquis Care patients reported never receiving their prescribed narcotics as prescribed. They allege that Malette told them no medication was available.

Specifically, some patients said Malette denied them oxycodone despite having a doctor’s prescription. The probable cause affidavit indicates that the patients’ s showed the medication had been administered and was removed from the narcotics storage.

Several empty pill cups with the patients’ names on them were also found in the staff-only bathroom garbage can.

Mallette, who was engaged through a temporary nursing agency and worked as a nurse in the facility, was arrested by Springfield police on January 2. She refused to be interviewed by law enforcement during the investigation.

Still, the court records indicate that Mallette allegedly told a Department of Human Services investigator that she didn’t have helpful coworkers to explain the medical charting discrepancies and was tired or was having computer problems.