Nurses accused of stealing patients' pain pills for themselves

Two Tennessee nurses are facing charges after state investigators said they diverted prescription pain pills away from their patients and to themselves instead for more than a year.

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The nurses, identified as Sarah Thacker, 31, and Kimberly Click, 42, came to the attention of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation in February after special agents got a pair of tips from the Tennessee Department of Health, authorities said.

Investigators were told on Feb. 8 that Thacker, a registered nurse at the Johnson City Medical Center and Franklin Woods Hospital, was suspected of using her job to get hydrocodone pills prescribed to patients. Authorities believe she started diverting the pills in September 2015 and continued until at least January 2017.

Later that month, on Feb. 27, the health department again contacted TBI to report that Click, a registered nurse at the John Medical Center, was also suspected of fraudulently obtaining pills for her personal use, according to authorities.

A grand jury came back with indictments on July 12 for both women, who turned themselves in over the weekend, TBI said.

Thacker was charged with dozen counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud. Click was arrested on 33 counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud.

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