Woman pleads not guilty to stealing drugs from nursing home
Amanda Ann Isakzon, 36, pleaded not guilty on Monday to fraudulently obtaining dangerous drugs in a common scheme, a felony in Lincoln County District Court. If convicted, she could face a maximum sentence of five years in Montana State Prison or a maximum fine of $50,000. Her next hearing is set for Sept. 12.
Isakson was charged in June after a Eureka assisted living facility noticed she had been taking pills that were signed out to residents at the facility. Eureka Police Officer Clint Heintz on June 24 was dispatched to Mountain View Manor, a Eureka assisted living facility after receiving a report of an employee stealing prescription drugs from a patient.
The facility manager reportedly told Heintz that Isakson had been signing out prescriptions for patients but not taking them. Video footage from the facility security system allegedly showed Isakson coming into Mountain View on her day off, signing out a 7.5-milligram hydrocodone and acetaminophen prescription for a patient, but never coming in contact with that patient.
Isakson, who had worked at Mountain View since March, allegedly told Heintz that she had taken the prescription tablet because of an ankle injury. She told Heintz this wasn’t the first time she had taken prescription pills from the facility, although she was unable to tell him how many times she had done so or how many patients had been missing their prescriptions because of her.
According to Heintz’s report, Isakson told him she had been taking pills for a little over a month. In his report, Isakson also told Heintz that she was going to try and get help with addiction through a local program and with her mother, the director of nursing at Mountain View.
Two days before Heintz visited Mountain View, a resident nurse at the facility made a note of a missing 5-milligram prescription. Isakson reportedly called the facility to explain the discrepancy, saying she had made a medication error and was afraid to admit it for fear she would get into trouble. She told the employee that she had given the prescription to a different resident at the facility. More video footage from the assisted a facility showed that Isakson never came into contact with the resident whom she said she had given the prescription by mistake.
Further investigation of the sign out sheets and video footage allegedly showed Isakson had taken pills from five different residents with whom she had no contact between June 6 and June 22.
Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 293-4124 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.