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A Billings nurse has been sentenced to four years on federal probation for stealing a hospitalized patient’s pain medication.
U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen sentenced 61-year-old Sheila Marie White on Tuesday for tampering with consumer products. Prosecutors say while working at St. Vincent Healthcare in December 2018 she took a patient’s hydrocodone and gave the patient over-the-counter pain medication.
She pleaded guilty in June.
The case began when a patient noticed she was being given different pills by White than by other nurses and was in more pain during White’s shift.
Prosecutors say White told investigators she had become addicted to the pain medication. State nursing license records show no discipline records for White.
White no longer works at St. Vincent Healthcare.