A state-licensed therapist who admitted burglarizing the apartments of assisted living residents in an effort to steal their medications is now facing licensing sanctions.
The Iowa Board of Physical and Occupational Therapists has opted not to revoke the license of Eric Newsom of Cedar Rapids, who pleaded guilty last month to a criminal charge of tampering with a consumer product, but to instead suspend his license for three years.
Court records show that in October 2025, federal prosecutors charged Newsom with one count of tampering with a consumer product and one count acquiring a controlled substance through fraud or misrepresentation.
Prosecutors alleged that as an Iowa-licensed occupational therapist in Iowa who owned and operated his own company, Element Therapy Solutions, Newsom diverted narcotics from patients.
One 74-year-old patient who lived in an assisted living facility had cancer and required medication to control her pain from multiple-organ failure, prosecutors said. According to court and board records, Newsom was accused of picking up the woman’s hydrocodone prescription from a local pharmacy, then swapping the pills with zinc tablets, adding score marks across the pills to make them look like hydrocodone. As a result, prosecutors said, the patient did not receive her pain medication in the days immediately before her death in March 2025.
According to court documents, Newsom also admitted burglarizing the apartment of another assisted living resident while seeking narcotics, and admitted targeting two sisters who lived in different apartments at a Cedar Rapids care facility. On at least three occasions, Newsom admitted, he took the sisters to a gym for therapy and then falsely claimed he had left his phone in their apartments so he could go back and steal their narcotic medications.
As part of a plea deal with prosecutors, Newsom pleaded guilty last month to one count of tampering with a consumer product, but he has yet to be sentenced. Court records indicate he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
In November 2025, shortly after the criminal charges were filed, the Iowa Board of Physical and Occupational Therapy charged Newsom with several regulatory violations, including professional incompetence, negligence in the practice of the profession, unethical conduct, habitual intoxication or addiction to the use of drugs, and obtaining or attempting to obtain controlled substances without lawful authority.
On March 13, 2026, a board hearing was held on the matter. According to the board, Newsom’s company, which employed as many as 13 people, offered therapy services primarily to eight care facilities in eastern Iowa including Keystones of Cedar Rapids and Legacy Manor of Cedar Rapids.
In the summer of 2024, the board alleges, Newsom sustained an injury and was prescribed pain medication — specifically, oxycodone and hydrocodone — and then developed an addiction to the narcotics.
“To relieve his cravings, Newsom diverted or stole prescription narcotic medications from his patients,” the board concluded after its hearing. “Newsom eventually admitted to diverting prescription narcotic medication on four occasions from four residents in total — specifically, two at Legacy Manor, one at Boyson Heights, and one at Keystones.”
The board records indicate Newsom also stated there had been “plenty” of times he went into the apartments of assisted living residents and failed to locate any narcotics he could steal.
Two occupational therapy assistants later complained to the licensing board that Newsom appeared to engage in unethical billing practices by conducting brief evaluations of five to 10 minutes each but billed for more than that, backdated his documentation, and reported seeing patients he had not actually seen.
According to the board, Newsom, in his interview last year with board investigator Derrek Ross, admitted he had stolen prescription narcotics from four patients, but denied fraudulent billing practices and falsifying patient records.
“There is no dispute that Newsom stole narcotic medications from four elderly patients in three different facilities,” the board stated at the conclusion of the hearing. “The board finds that this fact alone constitutes professional incompetence because Newsom took doctor-prescribed medication from a vulnerable population to serve his addiction … Newsom stole narcotic medications from his patients, failed to timely complete progress notes, failed to see patients as required by Iowa regulations, falsely reported that he had seen patients when he had not, and failed to properly supervise his occupational therapy assistants.”
In deciding Newsom’s actions warranted a three-year suspension of his license to practice, the board stated that it “acknowledges the hard work that Newsom has shown in addressing his addiction and appreciates Newsom taking accountability for his actions. Further, the board commends Newsom for advocating and working with the addiction community.”
However, the board added, “Newsom took advantage of a vulnerable population and the board is concerned that if allowed to work with such a population again — or any population that may be prescribed narcotic medications — there is a risk that Newsom will relapse.”
In addition to suspending Newsom’s license for three years, the board ordered that he participate in the Iowa Practitioner Health Program and that before applying for reinstatement he must complete a course on ethics and boundaries, submit to random drug testing for at least three years, and submit to a background check.
The Iowa Capital Dispatch was not able to reach Newsom for comment Tuesday at either his home or his office.
