Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced the conviction and sentencing of a registered nurse accused of diverting morphine while caring for a 10-year-old patient recovering from open heart surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, Kaitlyn Elizabeth Chalmers was responsible for administering morphine to the child on June 25, 2025. Chalmers documented giving the patient intravenous morphine at 8:30 a.m. and later told another nurse she had administered a second dose, but that dose was not documented in the patient’s medical records.
During the same shift, another nurse observed Chalmers leaving a staff bathroom with bruising and bleeding on her arm described as consistent with intravenous drug use, according to prosecutors. Other nurses subsequently reported signs of impairment. Chalmers refused a drug screening requested by the hospital and was removed from the PICU and terminated.
Chalmers pleaded guilty on June 20, 2026, to obtaining morphine by fraud. Morphine is a Schedule II controlled substance used to treat severe pain.
On September 9, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Alan C. Lazarow sentenced Chalmers to one year, with all but 30 days suspended, followed by two years of supervised probation. She is prohibited from caring for children during her probation and is excluded from participating in state and federa
