Norwalk woman charged with pretending to be a registered nurse

NORWALK -- A city woman who worked for a Norwalk doctor as a registered nurse and allegedly staged a dinner honoring herself as Nurse of the Year was arrested Thursday after investigators determined she was not licensed to practice nursing, state Division of Criminal Justice spokesman Mark Dupuis said in a release.

Betty Lichtenstein, 56, of 24 Reservoir Ave., was arrested by inspectors from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State's Attorney and charged with illegal use of the registered nurse title, six counts of second-degree reckless endangerment and criminal impersonation. She was released after posting $5,000 bond.

An investigation of Lichtenstein began in March, after a patient of Norwalk neurologist Dr. Gerald Weiss complained that she acted unprofessionally. Investigators found she was never licensed to practice nursing, even though she injected medications and gave medical advice to patients, her arrest warrant affidavit said.

Lichtenstein did not return a call for comment. Weiss declined comment.

Nearly three months ago, police arrested Lichtenstein at a local pharmacy, charging her with second-degree forgery and illegally obtaining prescription painkillers, according to Norwalk Sgt. Andre Velez. That investigation began when an employee of the East Avenue Rite Aid pharmacy called Weiss to check if he wrote a prescription to Lichtenstein for oxycodone, a narcotic.

When Weiss said he had no knowledge of the prescription, police waited for Lichtenstein to show up and fill the prescription.

She was charged with forgery and illegally obtaining prescription medication. That case is pending at state Superior Court in Norwalk.

Lichtenstein, who earlier told The Advocate she began working for Weiss in 2007, went to great lengths to show that she was a competent nurse.

In November 2008, according to the affidavit, she received the 2008 Nurse of the Year award at a dinner supposedly hosted by the Connecticut Nursing Association.

Investigators in the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State's Attorney's office determined that no such organization exists and that she paid $2,000 of her own money to stage the event, the affidavit said.

Lichtenstein is to be arraigned on Aug. 26.

Staff Writer John Nickerson can be reached at