PORTLAND, Maine - The state has lost its effort to impose a greater penalty on a Maine nurse whose license was suspended after letting a disoriented patient leave a hospital during a snowstorm.
The Maine State Board of Nurses sought to revoke John Zablotny's license for two years, but a judicial review reduced the penalty to a 90-day suspension.
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the decision on Tuesday.
The judge found that Zablotny failed to provide complete information to the 61-year-old patient about the risks of leaving Down East Community Hospital in Machias. He was found dead the next day, dressed only in slippers, socks, pants and a flannel shirt.
Zablotny's lawyer, Joe Baldacci, said his client has been working since 2010 at Mount Desert Island Hospital and has earned good reviews.