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KITCHENER — A nurse who stole a painkiller from an elderly woman dying of cancer received a suspended sentenced and two years probation.
Justice Elliott Allen also sentenced 36-year-old Kelly Reinhart to 100 hours of community service in a Kitchener courtroom Tuesday.
Although Reinhart’s lawyer, Brennan Smart, told the court “we are not advancing an opioid addiction,” Justice Elliott Allen said because of her addiction to narcotics, her actions were put into context.
A letter from a doctor was presented in court, but it was sealed as an exhibit.
Reinhart was found guilty in August of stealing a potent prescription painkiller meant for an elderly patient in palliative care.
Reinhart, who no longer practises nursing, was working as a nurse at Lanark Heights long-term care facility in Kitchener at the time of the offence.
On March 22, 2015, another nurse saw Reinhart with a syringe of the opioid painkiller Dilaudid. Reinhart’s job was to inject it into an elderly female resident dying of stomach cancer.
Instead, Reinhart walked into an empty room. By the time she entered the resident’s room, the syringe was empty.
It was standard practice at Lanark Heights for nurse practitioners to administer narcotics to residents.
Reinhart was found guilty of theft under $5,000. Three other charges were stayed.
In his judgment, Allen said Reinhart was in a position of trust and she was entrusted to administer painkillers to dying patients.
Allen said Reinhart was taking OxyContin to deal with pain after a motor vehicle accident.
“It explains what she was doing,” he said. “She has to take narcotics to deal with pain.”
More than a month after Reinhart was charged, she was still free to practise nursing with no conditions. She later resigned from the College of Nurses of Ontario.
The college has since changed her professional status on its website to “not entitled to practise.”