Fake nurse pleads guilty to assaulting patients via intravenous injection

A fake nurse who treated nearly 1,000 patients at medical centres in Vancouver and Victoria cried guilty Friday to assaulting victims with the weapon of her trade: an intravenous needle.

Clutching a box of tissues as she appeared before a British Columbia Supreme Court judge via video, Brigitte Cleroux uttered the word “guilty” 11 times in response to a series of criminal charges ranging from impersonation and assault to using forged documents.

The allegations relate to investigations in three separate jurisdictions where the 52-year-old managed to obtain work by combining the name of a real nurse – Melanie Smith – with a CV and references fabricated from lies.

“The impact on Ms. Smith was significant”

According to documents filed in the case, Cleroux treated at least 899 patients at BC Women’s Hospital in Vancouver and 56 patients at Victoria’s View Royal Surgical Medical Centre.

It also forever changed the life of the real nurse, Melanie Smith.

“The impact on Ms. Smith was significant,” reads an agreed statement of facts.

“She was so concerned about the real and potential damage to her name and professional reputation that she changed her last name to avoid being associated with Ms. Cleroux and her activities.”

The guilty pleas are the latest chapter in a legal odyssey spanning decades and jurisdictions. Cleroux had already been jailed for five years for fraud and identity theft in Alberta and is currently serving a seven-year sentence for impersonating a nurse at two Ontario health care facilities.

The charges in BC relate to money she received in benefits from her various jobs and injections that amounted to assault in the eyes of the law because the patients had not given their consent to be injected by a woman with no medical qualifications.

According to the agreed statement of facts, Cleroux’s parole on the Alberta charges expired on May 15, 2020.

But by then, she had already come and gone from a Surrey dental clinic where Cleroux was hired as a dental assistant.

On his way out the door, he stole five checks from the dentist, forging his signature on amounts totaling $8,000.

“Honest, loyal and dedicated,” the fake reference said.

Cleroux was hired as a full-time general duty nurse at BC Women’s Hospital in June 2020 after submitting a resume in the name of Melanie Smith, providing the actual nurse’s professional registration number.

In addition to claiming credentials as a certified flight nurse and registered nurse anesthetist, Cleroux also manipulated the application process so that her new employer unwittingly ended up seeking references from email addresses the scammer controlled.

Posing as a former boss, Cleroux gave herself “five out of five in a number of evaluation categories,” court documents state.

One fake reference described her “strengths” as “honest, loyal, and dedicated to her job/practice.” Another praised her for her “knowledge” and said she was “very smart and takes charge.”

Cleroux’s position at BC Women’s Hospital involved giving patients medications such as fentanyl and hydromorphone and monitoring their vital signs while they were under anesthesia.

While working in that job, Cleroux worked from October to November 2020 at Victoria’s View Royal Surgical Centre, a private medical centre specialising in outpatient surgery.

But multiple reports about her “lack of professionalism, poor nursing skills and bedside manner” led to Cleroux’s swift resignation from that position.

Unfortunately for the patients at British Columbia Women’s Hospital, she still had her fake day job to fall back on.

Within months, Cleroux found herself the subject of warnings about her professional conduct, but it was not until June 2021 that she was placed on leave following complaints from patients and staff.

The agreed statement of facts says the hospital became aware of Cleroux’s deception and fired its employee the same day the fake nurse announced her resignation.

‘Did you know what you were doing?’

Cleroux will be sentenced later this fall. Her next court hearing will be on Oct. 9.

Dressed in prison sweats and with her hair tied back in a bun, Cleroux sobbed as Senior Associate Judge Heather Holmes questioned her in detail about the crimes she was admitting to.

“Did you know what you were doing?” Holmes asked.

“Yes, madam,” Cleroux replied.

“And you used several documents which you knew to be false?” asked Holmes.

“Yes, madam,” Cleroux repeated.

“And you had physical contact with patients that the law considers assault because the law considers that they did not give consent because they did not know that you were not a nurse?” the judge continued. “Are you acknowledging that?”

“Yes,” Cleroux replied.

The judge also warned Cleroux that a guilty plea could have other implications that the fraudster may not have anticipated.

“For you, this could have professional consequences,” Holmes said.