State suspends license of Rosalia nurse after prescription deaths

The state has pulled the license of a Rosalia nurse after autopsy reports on three of her patients in southern Spokane County showed drug toxicity as the cause of death. Susan Bowen-Small faces charges of overprescribing narcotics to patients who later died. The state Health Department said Bowen-Small did not “properly screen or monitor patient use” of the drugs. The advanced registered nurse practitioner runs the Rosalia Health Clinic and has 20 days to answer the charges and request a hearing. The state accuses Bowen-Small of prescribing opioids at dosages that far exceed the norm. The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s office determined that the three hepatitus C patients died of combined drug toxicity.