Nurse struck off for faking botulinum toxin prescriptions

A nurse has been struck o for faking botulinum toxin prescriptions. Kate Matthew, 35, photocopied blank prescriptions signed by a doctor she met on a course in order to obtain the product for use in her private business – Kate Matthew Medical Aesthetics.

She paid for the botulinum toxin by credit card but avoided paying a £30 “signature fee” to the doctor for each prescription. The nurse also worked as a health visitor for the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board based in Newport, South Wales, when she carried out the fraud.

Matthew, from Cwmbran, Gwent, was caught out when a pharmacy contacted the doctor with a query over one of the prescriptions. She was struck o at a Nursing and

Midwifery Council (NMC) hearing. She pleaded guilty to six counts of fraud and admi ed she had “cut corners” and put clients at risk.

Ma hew was given an eight-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, and ordered her to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work at Cardi Crown Court last year. She was struck o inde nitely from working as a registered nurse by the tness to practice hearing in Cardi in

Monica French, chair of the NMC panel, said it would “mark the importance in maintaining public confidence.”