OKLAHOMA CITY, March 19 (UPI) -- A judge in Oklahoma has refused to reinstate the license of a nurse who had a sexual relationship with a patient suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease.
District Judge Patricia Parrish called Amber Van Brunt's punishment appropriate for her "egregious" conduct, The Oklahoman reported. The Oklahoma Nursing Board suspended her license for 20 years in August.
The deadline to appeal Parrish's decision to the state Supreme Court passed recently, leaving Van Brunt, 33, with no legal options, the newspaper said.
The patient, Chris Reiter, 43, of Shawnee, died in May 2010. He was wheelchair bound because of Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive fatal neurodegenerative disease. His wife learned of the affair with Van Brunt when she found text messages on his cell phone after he attempted suicide in March.
Van Brunt's lawyer argued the affair was consensual and that she only had sex with Reiter when she was off duty.
Liz Reiter has filed a lawsuit against the hospice organization Van Brunt worked for.
