OCT 31 2015, 7:59 AM ET
by ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES —
A Los Angeles-area doctor was convicted of murder in a landmark case for killing three patients who overdosed on what a prosecutor called "crazy, outrageous amounts" of painkillers she prescribed.
The second-degree murder convictions Friday
of Dr. Hsiu-Ying "Lisa" Tseng were the first
against a U.S. doctor for recklessly prescribing
drugs, the Los Angeles district attorney's office
said.
It's rare to bring homicide charges against a
physician, but the case came amid a
prescription drug abuse epidemic that has led
lawmakers to try to rein in so-called pill mills that dole out medications with little scrutiny.
"You can't hide behind a white lab coat and commit crimes," Deputy District Attorney John Niedermann said. "Writing a prescription to
someone knowing that they're going to abuse it and potentially die was the theory of
second-degree murder that we had."
![[Image: hsiu-ying-lisa-tseng_dc4585b57b87305c704...0-1000.jpg]](http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2015_44/1284441/hsiu-ying-lisa-tseng_dc4585b57b87305c7045b3af1e8f5fec.nbcnews-ux-2880-1000.jpg)
Dr. Hsiu Ying "Lisa" Tseng appeared in court during her arraignment in Los Angeles on March 16, 2012.
A dozen of Tseng's patients died, though
prosecutors only brought three murder charges because of other factors involved in some of those deaths, such as drugs prescribed by other doctors and a possible suicide.
Tseng, 45, showed no emotion as the
convictions were read out loud, though her
lawyer said she was emotional and very upset
later.
Jurors deliberated for 10 days before reaching the verdicts.
She was also convicted of illegally writing
prescriptions for two of the deceased patients
and 16 other people, including two undercover
agents who were investigating how easily she
prescribed addictive pain pills after brief office
visits.
She was acquitted of illegally writing a hydrocodone prescription to a third undercover officer.
Tseng prescribed "crazy, outrageous amounts
of medication" to patients who didn't need the
pills, Niedermann told jurors in Los Angeles
County Superior Court during closing
arguments.
The doctor repeatedly ignored warning signs even after several patients died as she built a new medical clinic in Rowland Heights with the money she made from them, earning $5 million in one three-year period.
One patient even overdosed in her office and had to be revived.
"Something is wrong with what you're doing if
your patients are dying," Niedermann said.
Tseng's lawyer said her client naively trusted
her patients.
Defense lawyer Tracy Green said patients testified they were legitimately in pain and later became dependent on the drugs, hiding their addictions by seeing other doctors and picking up prescriptions from different pharmacies.
Green had asked jurors to acquit Tseng on all
but one drug count.
Tseng shouldn't have been convicted of
anything more than manslaughter and plans to
appeal, Green said after the verdict.
"It's disappointing," Green said. "I don't think it
bodes well for doctors in America."
Tseng faces up to life in prison when sentenced Dec. 14. She was convicted of killing Vu Nguyen, 29, of Lake Forest, Steven Ogle, 25, of Palm Desert, and Joseph Rovero, 21, an Arizona State University student from San Ramon.
The three died of overdoses between March and December 2009.
Tseng barely kept any records on the three
men until she was contacted by the Medical
Board of California. She then fabricated charts
to make it look like she kept thorough records of diagnoses and noted she was weaning them off drugs, Niedermann said.
****Note****
I know this is an old story, but it's relevent to why we have so much difficulty finding a Dr. to even attempt to help us out now. A few "bad apples" rotted our medical profession to it's core.... Now we pay the price...
by ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES —
A Los Angeles-area doctor was convicted of murder in a landmark case for killing three patients who overdosed on what a prosecutor called "crazy, outrageous amounts" of painkillers she prescribed.
The second-degree murder convictions Friday
of Dr. Hsiu-Ying "Lisa" Tseng were the first
against a U.S. doctor for recklessly prescribing
drugs, the Los Angeles district attorney's office
said.
It's rare to bring homicide charges against a
physician, but the case came amid a
prescription drug abuse epidemic that has led
lawmakers to try to rein in so-called pill mills that dole out medications with little scrutiny.
"You can't hide behind a white lab coat and commit crimes," Deputy District Attorney John Niedermann said. "Writing a prescription to
someone knowing that they're going to abuse it and potentially die was the theory of
second-degree murder that we had."
Dr. Hsiu Ying "Lisa" Tseng appeared in court during her arraignment in Los Angeles on March 16, 2012.
A dozen of Tseng's patients died, though
prosecutors only brought three murder charges because of other factors involved in some of those deaths, such as drugs prescribed by other doctors and a possible suicide.
Tseng, 45, showed no emotion as the
convictions were read out loud, though her
lawyer said she was emotional and very upset
later.
Jurors deliberated for 10 days before reaching the verdicts.
She was also convicted of illegally writing
prescriptions for two of the deceased patients
and 16 other people, including two undercover
agents who were investigating how easily she
prescribed addictive pain pills after brief office
visits.
She was acquitted of illegally writing a hydrocodone prescription to a third undercover officer.
Tseng prescribed "crazy, outrageous amounts
of medication" to patients who didn't need the
pills, Niedermann told jurors in Los Angeles
County Superior Court during closing
arguments.
The doctor repeatedly ignored warning signs even after several patients died as she built a new medical clinic in Rowland Heights with the money she made from them, earning $5 million in one three-year period.
One patient even overdosed in her office and had to be revived.
"Something is wrong with what you're doing if
your patients are dying," Niedermann said.
Tseng's lawyer said her client naively trusted
her patients.
Defense lawyer Tracy Green said patients testified they were legitimately in pain and later became dependent on the drugs, hiding their addictions by seeing other doctors and picking up prescriptions from different pharmacies.
Green had asked jurors to acquit Tseng on all
but one drug count.
Tseng shouldn't have been convicted of
anything more than manslaughter and plans to
appeal, Green said after the verdict.
"It's disappointing," Green said. "I don't think it
bodes well for doctors in America."
Tseng faces up to life in prison when sentenced Dec. 14. She was convicted of killing Vu Nguyen, 29, of Lake Forest, Steven Ogle, 25, of Palm Desert, and Joseph Rovero, 21, an Arizona State University student from San Ramon.
The three died of overdoses between March and December 2009.
Tseng barely kept any records on the three
men until she was contacted by the Medical
Board of California. She then fabricated charts
to make it look like she kept thorough records of diagnoses and noted she was weaning them off drugs, Niedermann said.
****Note****
I know this is an old story, but it's relevent to why we have so much difficulty finding a Dr. to even attempt to help us out now. A few "bad apples" rotted our medical profession to it's core.... Now we pay the price...
Semper Fidelis
![[Image: SyAa0qj.png]](https://i.imgur.com/SyAa0qj.png)
USMC
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Nemo me impune lacessit
