FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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BALTIMORE, MD – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced the conviction and sentencing of Kaitlyn Elizabeth Chalmers, a licensed registered nurse, for diverting a controlled dangerous substance from the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).
On June 25, 2025, Chalmers was assigned to care for a 10-year-old patient, who was recovering from open heart surgery. Chalmers was responsible for administering morphine to the patient. Chalmers documented in the patient’s medical records that she gave intravenous morphine to the child at 8:30 a.m. At about 9:18 a.m., the child complained of severe pain to her care team. A nurse who was concerned about the child’s unmanaged pain asked Chalmers if she had administered any additional morphine to the child since the documented 8:30 a.m. dose. Chalmers told the nurse that she provided the child with a second dose of morphine at about 11:30 a.m. Chalmers, however, did not document the 11:30 a.m. dose in the child’s medical records.
Chalmers had claimed that the child’s pain was not responding to the prescribed morphine. The care team rejected Chalmer’s belief that the pediatric patient had developed a tolerance to morphine, noting the child was opioid naive and that their pain was well managed the previous day.
During the same shift, a nurse observed Chalmers exiting a staff bathroom with bruising and bleeding on her arm consistent with intravenous drug use. Other PICU nurses later reported that Chalmers exhibited signs of impairment. Following these reports, UMMC requested a drug screening, which Chalmers refused. She was immediately removed from the PICU floor and terminated.
On June 20, 2026, Chalmers pleaded guilty to obtaining morphine by fraud. Morphine is a Schedule II controlled substance that is used to treat severe pain. On September 9, 2026, the Honorable Alan C. Lazarow of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City sentenced Chalmers to 1 year, suspending all but 30 days with two years of supervised probation. Chalmers is prohibited from caring for children during her probation. Chalmers is excluded from participating in state and federal healthcare programs.
In making today’s announcement, Attorney General Brown thanked Division Director Zak Shirley, Assistant Attorneys General Carolyne Evans and Lisa Marts, Investigators Jay Beeler and Ryan Jones, and Nurse Analyst Yvette Finney of the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud and Vulnerable Victims Unit for their work on this case.
The Maryland Office of the Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud and Vulnerable Victims Unit receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $7,119,096 for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2026. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $2,373,032 for FY 2026, is funded by the State of Maryland.
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