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Sunday, May 19, 2013 | 10:29 a.m.

Posted: 12:37 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012

Nurse accused of endangering patients appears in court

By Jessica Heffner

Staff Writer

SPRINGFIELD —

A Springfield nurse wanted on 14 warrants on charges of endangering patients and patient abuse turned herself into authorities Tuesday.

Carla Howard-Daniels, 37, was arraigned in Clark County Municipal Court on Tuesday on seven counts each of patient endangering and patient abuse: neglect. She pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. A warrant for her arrest was issued Friday.

Clark County Developmental Disabilities launched an investigation into Howard-Daniels in July after receiving reports from the director of the Creative Learning Workshop in Springfield that she allegedly wasn’t providing medications to at least seven patients there. The center is a private day facility for adults with developmental disabilities.

Authorities have not released what they believed happened to the drugs that weren’t dispensed. After her arraignment, Jon Paul Rion, Howard-Daniels’ attorney, said he believes the patients were given the medications, but there was an issue with the paperwork.

“We dispute those allegations completely,” he said. “The clients, I believe, received the care they were supposed to. It’s simply a function of whether it was properly documented.”

Jennifer Rousculp, superintendent for Clark County DD, said she didn’t know if any patients were seriously harmed as a result of not receiving their medications. She said the investigation was turned over to Springfield police after one of her investigators vetted the claims.

Neither Rion nor the facility have confirmed if Howard-Daniels is still a nurse there. She is a licensed practical nurse in the state of Ohio. Her license was listed as expiring Friday, but was noted to be in the active renewal process, according to the Ohio Board of Nursing.

Judge Eugene Nevius set bond at $14,000 or 10 percent, noting the seriousness of the allegations. Howard-Daniels has since posted that bond. No further court dates have been set.

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