Nurse responsible for disabled girls death facing fraud charges

A nurse serving a 10-year prison sentence after a 14-year-old cerebral palsy patient in her care starved to death in 2011 now faces additional charges for Medicaid fraud, officials said.

Mollie Parsons, 45, was supposed to provide daily care for Makayla Norman, who weighed 28 pounds when she died on March 1, 2011. Normans body was covered with filth and open bedsores, her hair and eyebrows infested with lice and her diaper hadnt been changed for some time, according to Dayton police.

She couldnt speak, move or feed herself. In all, five people were prosecuted for various crimes connected to Normans death, including her mother and doctor.

An indictment filed last week in Daytons U.S. District Court alleges Parsons aided and abetted others in a scheme attempting to defraud Medicaid and taxpayers from 2009 to 2011. Prosecution in the federal case began in late 2013. Parsons, found guilty of manslaughter, is scheduled to be released Nov. 21, 2021 from the Ohio Reformatory for Women.

Neither the prosecutor nor the defense attorney assigned to the case returned messages seeking comments Monday.

The federal indictment states that Parsons, as a home health care nurse, was responsible for providing nursing services including, but not limited to, wound care, personal hygiene maintenance, and feeding assistance.

Parsons was supposed to care for Norman eight hours per day, six days per week. Due to the financial status of Normans family, Medicaid agreed to pay for medical treatment, but required health care providers to submit truthful and accurate information detailing the specific services rendered.

The indictment said parsons repeatedly submitted false and fraudulent representations to Medicaid and fraudulent nursing care notes that falsely documented fictitious service to make up for when Parsons allegedly was not at Normans residence.

The indictment states, By devising, executing, and participating in this fraudulent billing scheme, Parsons caused Medicaid to lose thousands of dollars.

When she was being sentenced for Normans death, Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Mary Katherine Huffman told Parsons that only 10 years in prison was a travesty of justice. The judge also mentioned a federal investigation that led to the current charges.

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Nurse responsible for disabled girls death facing fraud charges