Former N.Y. Nurse Who Faked Childhood Vaccination Records for Over 160 Students Faces Record-Breaking Fine

Key Points:

• Julie DeVuono, a former New York pediatric nurse practitioner, was fined $544,000 by the New York State Department of Health for falsifying COVID-19 and other childhood vaccination records for 162 children.
• This penalty is the largest civil fine in the agency's 125-year history, reflecting the seriousness of her fraudulent scheme which also involved forgery, money laundering, and issuing opioid prescriptions to non-patients.
• DeVuono admitted to charging families between $220 and $350 for fake COVID-19 vaccine cards, using the proceeds to pay personal expenses including her mortgage, and was sentenced to five years probation, surrendered her nursing license, and forfeited $1.2 million.
• The falsified records primarily affected children from Long Island and the Hudson Valley, with families required to provide legitimate proof of immunization before children could return to school.
• The fraudulent activity spanned from June 2021 to January 2022, and the New York State Department of Health emphasized zero tolerance for actions that jeopardize public health and safety.