A licensed occupational therapist was sentenced to 14 months in federal prison for accessing private health and residence information of at least 1,900 patients and burglarizing 13 homes in north central Iowa, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
 
The occupational therapist worked for a hospital as well as various therapy companies.
 
Samantha Jo Rogers, 33, of Mason City, Iowa pleaded guilty to one count of acquiring and attempting to acquire a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, deception and subterfuge, one count of wrongfully obtaining individually identifiable health information under false pretenses with intent to use for personal gain and one count of false statements relating to health care matters.
 
From at least July 2017 through June 2018, Rogers illegally accessed the private health and residence information of 1,900 patients at the hospital and accessed similar information from one of the therapy companies no less than 1,572 times, the release states.
 
She used this information to find and travel to some of the residences and tried get the patients’ prescription pain medication by acting as a public health worker, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
 
One patient had been discharged home when Rogers arrived and said the patient’s doctor no longer wanted her to take the pain medication. Rogers took the medication and the patient was later taken to the emergency room because of the pain.
 
Rogers was sentenced to 14 months in federal prison and was ordered to make restitution.
 
Related links: Learn more about the case at https://bit.ly/2kHjI81.