News & Activities

Licensed Aide Charged With Narcotics Substitution And Abusing An Elderly Vulnerable Adult

CONTACT: Linda A. Purdy, Assistant Attorney General, (802) 828-5332

April 12, 2011

In connection with an incident involving an elderly resident of The Lodge at Otter Creek, a residential care and assisted living facility in Middlebury, Vermont, Attorney General William H. Sorrell announced today that Robyn Page, age 58, of Brandon, Vermont, was arraigned yesterday in Vermont Superior Court of Addison County on two charges of Obtaining a Regulated Drug by Deceit, both felonies, and one count of Abuse of a Vulnerable Adult, a misdemeanor. If convicted on all three charges, she faces potential penalties totaling six years and two days imprisonment and $12,000.00 in fines.

The charges stem from Ms. Page’s employment as a Licensed Nursing Assistant and Medication Technician at The Lodge at Otter Creek. According to papers filed in Court, Ms. Page, on two separate occasions, is alleged to have removed Oxycodone pills, a narcotic painkiller, from a medication bottle prescribed to an elderly resident for pain relief. Ms. Page is alleged to have accomplished this by substituting the missing pills with Tylenol and acetaminophen, in place of the resident’s Oxycodone. Her actions are alleged to have deprived the elderly resident of his prescribed pain medication, causing him unnecessary pain.

Ms. Page pleaded innocent to the charges and was released on standard conditions plus special conditions that she not provide direct patient care to vulnerable adults or work in a setting where she would have direct access to narcotics. The Court also ordered her not to buy, possess, or use regulated drugs without a valid prescription and not to have any contact with the alleged victim. Ms. Page was also prohibited from entering onto the premises of The Lodge at Otter Creek.

This case is being handled by the Medicaid Fraud and Residential Abuse Unit at the Attorney General's Office.