A Canadian woman who became a nurse in British Columbia and cared for hundreds of patients has been sentenced to seven years in prison.
Brigitte Clorox pleaded guilty in July to assaulting patients with IV injections while pretending to be a nurse.
This is not the first time Clairaux has worked as a nurse without medical qualifications.
Tuesday’s sentencing marks the end of decades in the court system for him – often as a serial counterfeiter – where he has been convicted of fraud and other related crimes across Canada and the United States.
The sentencing hearing, which began on Monday, heard from former patients, some of whom described how learning about the fraud had undermined their trust in the health system.
According to the College of Nurses of Ontario, Clorox, now in her early 50s, went by a number of aliases, including Brigitte Merrier, Brigitte Fournier, Melanie Cloroix, Melanie Gauthier, Melanie Thompson and Melanie Smith.
In June 2020, she obtained a job as a nurse at BC Women’s Hospital using a false name and fake resume and references. He worked there until June 2021, when he was placed on leave following complaints.
According to court documents, she was directly and indirectly involved in the care of hundreds of patients who came to the center for gynecological surgical procedures.
The provincial health services authority is facing a class-action lawsuit from some of those patients. PHSA is not commenting on the matter as it is before the courts.
Clorox also worked briefly at the View Royal Surgical Center in Victoria, B.C.
In Alberta, she has a record of posing as a nurse dating back to at least 2011, according to court documents.
She also posed as legitimate in Ottawa in 2017 and used fake nursing credentials, a fake resume and a false name to get a job in 2021 at two medical clinics there, where she administered needles and drugs. Apply
One of them was a fertility clinic where she treated eight patients – a job she abruptly quit after a nurse confronted her about the way she cared for him.
Police began investigating Clorox after the co-worker tried to file a complaint with a nursing college, revealing a false Clorox identity.
He got another job at a dental office but was arrested shortly after.
Clorox has already been convicted for his dangerous tactics, with an Ontario court in 2022 sentencing him to seven years behind bars for crimes including impersonation, fraud, assault and battery. What was committed?
Friday’s sentence will essentially add four years to his time served on the Ontario charges.
In all, Cleroux has an extensive record of 67 convictions as an adult, including in Florida, primarily for fraud, theft and impersonation.
It is unclear why Clorox chose to pose as a nurse throughout North America for at least a decade.
Clorox is also wanted in the U.S. state of Colorado for counterfeiting and counterfeiting, according to an arrest affidavit in a 2001 case. She is accused of presenting false credentials to work as a registered nurse in Colorado Springs.
She had some training as a nurse, though never completed a degree.