Traveling nurse convicted in Wichita Falls had been fired at Arkansas hospital over drugs
A Henrietta nurse was barred from working in Arkansas because of misdeeds ranging from failing a drug test administered after track marks were spotted on his arm to removing deceased patients' narcotics at a Little Rock hospital, according to the Arkansas State Board of Nursing.
Just before being barred from practicing in Arkansas for unprofessional conduct, Jason Christopher Schobert called in fraudulent prescriptions for Xanax, testosterone and tramadol to a Wichita Falls pharmacy for his mother, according to Wichita County court documents.
The 34-year-old was working for Clay County Memorial Hospital's Emergency Room as a registered nurse when all this happened in November last year.
Schobert pleaded guilty Friday to fraudulent attempt to obtain controlled substances before 30th District Judge Jeff McKnight. The drug involved was tramadol, a strong opioid painkiller.
The judge gave him a 10-year prison sentence suspended in favor of five years of probation and ordered him to pay a $2,500 fine as part of a plea bargain. The third-degree felony is punishable by up to 10 years behind bars.
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Test results: Fentanyl
Licensed in Texas in 2014, Schobert was able to practice in Arkansas because it is a member of the Interstate Nurse Licensure Compact.
He signed off on a 13-week contract with Baptist Health in Little Rock through a staffing agency and began working there Oct. 13, 2021, according to a letter from the Arkansas nursing board telling him to cease and desist practicing in that state.
The Nov. 16, 2022, letter to Schobert detailed the board's findings and the basis for them.
At Baptist Health, he submitted to a urine drug screen Dec. 11, 2021, specifically for fentanyl after visible track marks were seen on his arm.
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In addition, the hospital found issues with how Schobert handled controlled substances, such as unaccounted for hydrocodone and fentanyl.
The nurse also removed more fentanyl and cancelled removal of controlled substances more, compared to other nurses. He delayed giving controlled drugs, took down narcotic drips of patients who were deceased and unnecessarily changed narcotic drip bags.
On Jan. 12, 2022, Schobert's drug test results came back positive for fentanyl, and Baptist Health fired him.
A search Wednesday of records from Nursys, a national database of nursing licensure and disciplinary actions, showed that Schobert is still barred from practicing in Arkansas.
His Texas license expired May 31, and the entry notes adverse action against him in Arkansas. His license is listed as unencumbered in New York although it expired June 30 in that state.
Efforts to obtain opioids in Wichita Falls
In January, a special agent with the Texas Department of Public Safety began investigating Schobert. The Criminal Investigations Division agent wrote an affidavit for an arrest warrant detailing the probe and the allegations against the nurse.
On Jan. 17, 2022, Dr. Christian Guerrero discovered Schobert had phoned in a fraudulent prescription to United Market Street Pharmacy on Nov. 14, 2022, for the anxiety medication Xanax with three refills, tramadol with three refills and a testosterone cypionate injection.
The doctor came across the fraud while reviewing the prescription history of a patient, Christine Denise Smith, on the Texas Prescription Monitoring Program database.
When Smith was questioned, the 57-year-old said she went to the ER at Clay County Memorial Hospital and was prescribed the drugs. But she was not seen there on that date, and Smith was later determined to be Schobert's mother.
Guerrero contacted the physician whose name was on the prescription, Dr. Barry Davenport, verifying with him that the patient wasn't seen.
Davenport also said he didn't evaluate her, would have denied the request for the prescription if he had received it and didn't authorize the use of his Drug Enforcement Agency-assigned number.
During a Feb. 20 interview, Schobert denied calling in the prescription but admitted to picking it up. He also told the investigator he knew it would be illegal to call it in without the doctor's permission.
Prescription fraud charge against the mom
Smith was charged with fraudulent intent to obtain a controlled substance, tramadol, in connection with a Dec. 15, 2022, incident, court records show.
Schobert had enlisted his mother and another person to obtain refills on controlled substances Dec. 14, 2022, which they knew was illegal, according to allegations in court documents.
The charge against Smith was dismissed Monday at the request of prosecutors because her son took responsibility, according to a judge's dismissal order.
Smith's criminal record includes convictions for misdemeanor and state-jail felony drug possession.
Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Read her recent work here. Her X handle is @Trishapedia.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Nurse convicted in Wichita Falls has troubled history in Arkansas
