Connecticut DPH hearing deems allegations against nurse admitted after no-show; department seeks revocation

Hearing Officer Aden Baum of the Connecticut Department of Public Health on Oct. 27, 2025, granted the department—s motion to deem the allegations in a disciplinary complaint against registered nurse Emily Annaton (docket 2025980) admitted after the respondent failed to appear and had not filed an answer.

The department—s attorney, Anthony Nanny, told the hearing the respondent had been subject to a consent order approved Dec. 10, 2024, and complied with its terms, including periodic therapist reports and drug testing, until May 2025. "Based on the information that we have, she is still unsafe to practice, and we would request that her license to practice as a registered nurse be revoked," Nanny said during opening remarks.

Brett Karpuska, administrative assistant and board liaison to the Connecticut Board of Examiners for Nursing, was sworn and testified that notice of the hearing was sent to the respondent—s last known address by email, certified mail and first-class mail and that a Microsoft Teams link was included. Karpuska told the hearing there was no request for a continuance.

The hearing officer listed and admitted record exhibits, including the notice of hearing dated Oct. 16, 2025; USPS tracking information produced Oct. 27, 2025; the statement of charges dated Aug. 15, 2025; and a summary suspension order from August 2025. The department also sought to introduce multiple late-filed exhibits, which the department representative attributed to a calendaring error; because the respondent was absent, Hearing Officer Baum allowed the late filings. Those department exhibits included an investigative monitoring report for docket 2025980; an affidavit of the department—s monitor dated July 8, 2025; a prior consent order approved Dec. 10, 2024; emails between the department and the respondent dated July 8, 2025; a notice of noncompliance dated July 8, 2025; and two sealed therapist reports dated May and June 2025 that the department said contain protected medical information.

Citing the respondent—s failure to file an answer and Regs. Conn. State Agencies § 19a-9-20, Hearing Officer Baum said, "I grant the department's motion to deem the allegations admitted." The hearing record shows the department elected not to call live witnesses.

After the department—s statements and the admission of exhibits, the hearing officer closed the record and adjourned the proceeding. Baum stated his role in preparing a proposed memorandum of decision that will be forwarded to the Board of Examiners for Nursing, which will issue the final decision.

The transcript and hearing record show the department requested revocation of Annaton—s registered nurse license; the Board of Examiners for Nursing will consider the hearing record and the hearing officer's proposed memorandum when issuing any final discipline. Several documents entered into the record were identified as sealed because they contain protected medical information.

No witnesses testified on behalf of the respondent, and the respondent did not appear at the scheduled Microsoft Teams hearing. The transcript does not include any answer or written response from the respondent, and it does not record any vote by a board; procedural rulings were made by the hearing officer on the record.