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Tara Severino, 58, of West Haven, was sentenced to six months of home confinement and two years of probation on Thursday, Dec. 19, the US Attorney for Connecticut said.
Severino was a nurse at the West Haven VA Medical Center, where she stole pain medications like fentanyl and hydromorphone from patients under her care, according to prosecutors. She accomplished this in several ways, including consuming "waste," meaning she gave the patient a portion of the drug and took the rest herself.
In one instance, she said she administered fentanyl to a brain-dead patient 19 times over nine days after claiming she saw him having a seizure and in pain, prosecutors said. Severino diverted some of that drug to herself.
Severino pleaded guilty in June to obtaining controlled substances by fraud or subterfuge. The court acknowledged her cooperation during the investigation and her guilty plea in handing down her sentence.
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