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Two local nurse practitioners charged with overprescribing opioids and other alleged standard of care violations are seeking to have the felony charges against them dismissed.
Desiree Desjardins, 52, Garrison, and Jennifer Napora, 45, Surrey, were both charged in North Central District Court in February of last year with six felony counts after an investigation by special agents with the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
At a long delayed and lengthy preliminary hearing held at the end of November, MFCU Director Marina Spahr laid out the case against Desjardin and Napora, citing a series of alleged drug diversion activity at a healthcare clinic in Minot that Desjardins owned and operated and which employed Napora.
According to court documents, investigators reviewed only 10 of the 55 medical files of the practitioners' patients but found evidence of multiple incidents in which both had prescribed high volumes of morphine-milligram equivalents without medical necessity.
However, Disjardin's attorney Erich Grant drew the court's attention to a motion to dismiss the charges filed on his client's behalf and stated Napora's attorney, Ashley Gulke, would be joining the motion.
A hearing regarding the motion to dismiss was scheduled for Thursday but was continued by District Judge Gary Lee. The next court date is a pretrial hearing scheduled for March 13.