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A Missouri woman is in custody and faces charges that she stole medication from an elderly client. The initial investigation revealed that the woman had been switching out hydrocodone tablets from a client with acetaminophen, but other caregivers of the elderly woman noticed the issue and assisted with the investigation.
Authorities eventually stopped Kerrina Elliott, 43, of Smithville, on a routine traffic stop and when they had asked for permission to search her car, which she authorized, they found what turned out to be methamphetamine in a small bag and a hollow pen, which could be used to transfer pills. There was no work immediately released about whether the hydrocodone was located on her person.
Other caregivers for the elderly client gave permission to the authorities to have a surveillance camera placed in the residence with full view of the medications the woman was being prescribed. As a home care aide who wasn’t licensed to administer medications, Ms. Elliott had no reason to go anywhere near the medications. Those medications were in a locked box.
“Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said the charges were filed Tuesday following an investigation by the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations and the Platte County Sheriff’s Department.
According to court documents, authorities were contacted in January when caregivers of a 95-year-old woman noticed that her hydrocodone tablets had been replaced with 500 mg acetaminophen tablets.
The elderly woman is receiving hospice services and requires constant care. Caregivers become concerned when the woman became ill when given her medications.
On February 16, an FDA investigator installed a hidden camera in the woman’s kitchen with the approval of her caregiver. On March 1, the caregiver contacted investigators to report that four hydrocodone tablets prescribed to the woman were missing from a locked prescription box in the kitchen.”
The investigators discovered through the video surveillance that Ms. Elliott accessed the locked box two separate times, both in a seemingly secretive manner. Ms. Elliott has been charged as a repeat offender, having faced drug charges in the past and is facing up to 10 years in prison for each of the theft and possession charges she faces. She is currently being held on $25,000 cash bond and is awaiting the next court date.