A 48-year-old woman from Manchester, Connecticut, identified as Suzean Langan, was arrested in a Medicaid fraud and healthcare impersonation scheme after working as a purported nurse without any formal training or licensure across multiple healthcare facilities. Her employer, Karen Wurst, 71, of Raleigh, North Carolina, also faces felony charges for facilitating the scheme through a staffing agency called NurseSpan.
Officials allege that Langan’s lack of qualifications and improper performance of clinical duties including a gastrostomy tube procedure resulted in severe complications for a medically fragile disabled patient.
According to prosecutors, Wurst operated NurseSpan, a staffing agency based in West Hartford, and created counterfeit nursing credentials for Langan by using the real license number of a legitimate nurse without that individual’s permission. Wurst then assigned Langan to work at 18 different medical facilities in Connecticut.
Neither Langan nor Wurst disclosed that Langan had never attended nursing school, received training, or obtained a valid nursing license. Despite this, Langan performed clinical duties including administering medications and providing care for medically complex and fragile patients. Officials noted that the scheme generated billings of $133,682 in Medicaid-qualified services.
One specific incident detailed by state authorities involved a patient who underwent a gastrostomy (G-tube) procedure performed by Langan. The patient subsequently experienced choking, vomiting, and a loss of consciousness, aspiration pneumonia which were directly attributed to improper execution of the procedure by the unlicensed caregiver.
Gastrostomy tube procedure involves placing a feeding tube into the stomach through the abdominal wall to reach the stomach to feed and are typically performed or supervised by trained medical professionals due to risks such as aspiration, infection, and mechanical complications.
Langan is facing multiple criminal charges including:
Health insurance fraud
Identity theft
Larceny
Violation of licensing requirements
First-degree assault of a disabled person (related to the patient injury)
Wurst, the owner of NurseSpan, has been charged with conspiracy and related offenses for supplying falsified credentials and knowingly placing an unlicensed person in clinical roles.
Both women were released on bond, with court appearances scheduled at Hartford Superior Court. Wurst's next court date is set for February 18 and Langan's for January 23.
This case highlights vulnerabilities in staffing and credentialing processes when healthcare facilities rely on third-party agencies. In this instance, federally funded Medicaid services were billed under a false professional identity, and an untrained individual provided direct patient care, resulting in serious harm.
Across the U.S., there have been multiple prosecutions of individuals who impersonated licensed nurses, used stolen credentials, or falsified training records to obtain healthcare employment, posing risk to patient safety and violating professional licensure laws.
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