Doctor convicted of murder in patient OD deaths; case may be first successful US prosecution
A California physician has been convicted of second-degree murder in the prescription drug overdose deaths of three patients, based on reckless conduct.
Prosecutors say the case may be the first time in U.S. history a doctor has been convicted of murder for prescribing medicine used by the patient to overdose, according to CNN and the Los Angeles Times (sub. req.).
Dr. Hsiu-Ying “Lisa” Tseng got the bad news Friday, when she was convicted of 23 counts by a Los Angeles jury, but showed no emotion. Her lawyer says the 45-year-old was shocked by the verdict and will appeal.
The trial took nearly two months and the jury deliberated for two weeks before reaching its verdict.
“She wrote them a prescription for the very thing they’re addicted to. She shoved them over that cliff,” argued prosecutor John Niedermann. He said Tseng hadn’t adequately questioned patients, some of whom admitted to the doctor they were addicts.
Defense attorney Tracy Green and the physician’s mother, who spoke to a Times reporter through an interpreter outside the courthouse, portrayed the doctor as overworked and too trusting of her patients.
“She got in over her head,” defense attorney Green told the jury
“That’s what malpractice cases are about. She did not murder people.”
After the verdict was announced, Niedermann said the conviction of Tseng sends the message “you can’t hide behind a white lab coat and commit crimes. A lab coat and stethoscope are no shield.”
In addition to the three second-degree murder counts, Tseng also was convicted of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and 19 counts of unlawful controlled substance prescription, CNN reports.
Undercover agents posed as patients seeking medication to get the evidence needed to pursue the case against her.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Doctor faces landmark murder trial for prescribing meds that led to patient ODs”
