somebody help!....OIG list

[whytboy]

Hopefully someone can give me some exact advice on what to do in my situation because I really have no idea....I am an LVN in texas, my license is in good standing since first receiving it in Feb. 1997. When I was in the LVN program in 1996 during a clinical (at a nursing home I had worked in as a cna leaving under bad circumstances) there was 2 guys who reported I had hit a resident I was caring for. Of course I did not do this but there was an investigation. The investigator came from the attorney general office in Austin. I don't remember how long the investigation was but at the conclusion I was told there was no evidence largely because those 2 guys said 2 different things in their statements ...I finished school and got my license in Feb 1997......then later that year I received notification to appear in court for assault with bodily injury charge. I spoke with a lawyer and she spoke with the DA who decided to dismiss the charges. But on the day of court the exact man who did the investigation showed up saying they can't dismiss and it must have a disposition. I didn't have money for a trial so I pled no contest to disorderly conduct and had 30 day deferred adjudication. .......then in 1998 I received a letter stating I was excluded from participation in Medicare/Medicaid programs. I couldn't find anyone then who knew what this meant and my thought was, I don't have Medicare or Medicaid. I continued working for several years later finding out exactly what that exclusion meant..........now I am afraid to ask about being removed from it since I (unknowingly) worked when I was not supposed to. But I'm also having much difficulty getting hired for anything else because nursing is all I have really ever done. .....I am also afraid to apply for unemployment due to being on the OIG list being the reason for my most recent termination. I don't know how to try to remedy this situation without putting myself into trouble for working as a nurse...(even though I did not understand that i wasn't supposed to. If anybody can help me to know exactly. What I should do it would be of great thanks...

[Isabelle49]

You might want to consult an attorney.