By: Nick Beres
MANCHESTER, Tenn. -- A Manchester nurse is accused of betraying the
sacred trust of her patients and stealing their pain pills.
"They were mostly elderly patients," said detective Stuart
Colwell. He arrested 33-year-old Brooke Sissom for allegedly stealing
powerful narcotics that were meant for her patients at the Manchester Health
Care Center.
"It's awful. Just terrible. I can't see anybody doing that to someone
who is just helpless," said Tim Todd who has a sister at the center.
Police believe Sissom ordered and then stole powerful narcotics using her
patients' names and prescriptions.
Police credit the staff at the center for turning Sissom in and salvaging key
documents that Sissom tried to destroy. She was immediately fired for gross
misconduct.
Police do not believe any of Sissom's patients ever went without their
medication. At the point when they arrested her, they said she was just
ordering new prescriptions. They said Sissom likely used the hundreds of
pills herself and may have sold some. Few of the pills were recovered.
Sissom faces nine felony counts of obtaining a controlled substance using
fraud. Sissom's attorney declined to comment for this story.
