(MITCHELL) – The Indiana State Board of Nursing has suspended the license of a Mitchell school nurse after she admitted to stealing students’ medications and ingesting them herself.
On Thursday, the state nursing board approved a 90-day license suspension for Carol Sanders following a petition from the Indiana Attorney General’s office calling Sanders “a clear and immediate danger to the public health and safety if allowed to continue to practice.”
Lawrence County prosecutors filed criminal charges against Sanders including official felony misconduct, felony neglect of a dependent, and five counts of misdemeanor theft.
On Friday, March 8, Mitchell Police Department Resource Officer Rob German began an investigation in reference to a complaint of medication belonging to students that had gone missing.
On March 12, Officer German completed his investigation and forwarded his report to the Lawrence County Prosecutor.
On March 13, Lawrence County Prosecutors Office filed charges on a Mitchell Community School Nurse Carol Sanders and she was arrested without incident.
According to a probable cause affidavit, between February 25th and March 7th, Sanders, having the care of elementary school students, endangered children’s health and lives by substituting the child’s prescription medication for non-prescription medication baby aspirin.
Police began their investigation after Sanders asked two secretaries at Burris Elementary to do a pill count after a report of missing medication. They determined the count was off. That is when Sanders admitted to knowing the count would be off and admitted to ingesting five pills (Amphetamines) from two Burris Elementary students, and seven pills from two students at Hatfield Elementary including 20 grams of “Methyphenidate” (Ritalin) and a 10 mg. tablet of Methyphenidate and 5 mg “Dexmethylphenidate” (Focalin).
Sanders admitted to replacing one of the Hatfield Elementary student’s medication with 81 mg. baby aspirin.
Sanders provided a written statement to police admitting in that confession of stealing 12 pills.
She immediately tendered her resignation with the Mitchell Community School system.
Sanders told police she stole the medication because she is an addict.
