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Desiree Lato, 41, was arrested Friday while working at UF Health Jacksonville and charged with one count of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud.
When Lato was arrested at work, she was already out of jail on bond following a July arrest in Clay County on charges of stealing medication at Orange Park Medical Center, where she worked in the emergency room.
Investigators, in the Clay County case, said the medication she stole was meant for patients suffering pain.
The arrest report, which details the allegation against Lato, was not available despite confirmation that she was booked into the Duval County jail around 1:30 p.m. Friday. However, News4JAX learned that Lato was also arrested in late July on two counts of obtaining medication by fraud while working as an ER nurse in Clay County.
Tuesday Lato was arraigned in the Clay County case and pled not guilty, so the case will go to trial. According to the arrest warrant, Lato had been under investigation since March. A hospital pharmacy director told a detective there were multiple suspicious medication transactions from an automated machine that dispenses pills.
The pharmacy director said there were medications that were not scanned as being administered to a patient as well as no documentation as to why the pills were removed.
Investigators said surveillance video pointed to Lato as a suspect. The warrant affidavit also stated that hospital managers questioned Lato and ordered her to take a drug test by urine sample.
One of the nurses who witnessed the drug test told the pharmacy director she believed Lato faked the urine sample by having a foley bag strapped or stuck to her body.
According to the affidavit, the urine sample was not a normal color.
Given that this information is available to the public, people wonder how Lato is still employed at UF Health as a nurse while her Clay County case is still open.
A nurse, who wanted to remain anonymous, said that allegations of Lato stealing medication were hard to keep swept under the rug.
“The medical community is actually very close. So, when something happens, we all know,” the nurse said.
The nurse said it’s scary that “this information is out there and these people are still being hired to work at the bedside.”
“To hear that offenses like that are happening in our hospitals, that nurses are using and stealing drugs while they are at work is actually appalling,” the nurse said.
UF Health sent the following statement when we inquired about Lato’s employment:
“The individual in question is no longer employed by UF Health Jacksonville. Because this is an ongoing investigation, we ask that you contact the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for more information.”
We also researched Lato’s nursing license and found that despite her recent arrests on charges involving medication theft, the status of her license is still clear and active with no disciplinary cases.
Lato is scheduled to make her first court appearance on the Jacksonville case Saturday morning. Pre-trial for the Clay County case is scheduled for October.
New4JAX could not confirm if UF Health performed a background check on Lato or reached out to her previous employer, the Orange Park Medical Center to inquire about her employment there. However, A source with UF Health said the hospital is dealing with a shortage of nurses and that they typically check to make sure a nurse’s license is still active and in good standing.