|
 The case comes amid what public health officials describe as a
national epidemic of prescription drug abuse. The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention said last year the trend was fueling
nearly 17,000 overdose deaths annually, as well as a rise in heroin
addiction.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court jury deliberated nine days
before convicting Dr. Hsiu Ying "Lisa" Tseng, 45, an osteopath who
specialized in internal medicine, of three counts of second-degree
murder.
She also was found guilty of 19 counts of unlawfully prescribing
controlled substance and one count of obtaining a controlled
substance by fraud.
Tseng, who has remained in custody since March 2012, faces a maximum
penalty of life in prison when she returns to court on Dec. 14 for
sentencing, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said.
 Criminally prosecuting physicians for patients' deaths is relatively
rare, with one notable case being the 2011 involuntary manslaughter
conviction of Dr. Conrad Murray for giving pop star Michael Jackson
a fatal dose of a surgical anesthetic to help him sleep.
Prosecutors said Friday's verdict, capping a six-week trial, marked
the first time in which a U.S. doctor was found guilty of murder for
over-prescribing drugs.
Licensed to practice in 1997, Tseng opened a storefront medical
office in 2005 in Rowland Heights, a hillside community east of Los
Angeles that is home to many upper-middle-class and wealthy
immigrants from China, Taiwan and South Korea.
At the trial, prosecutors pointed to nine overdose deaths associated
with Tseng's practice in less than three years, during which they
said she had made $5 million from her clinic, dispensing potent,
addictive medications to people who did not need them.
[to top of second column] |
These drugs include powerful narcotics such as oxycodone, methadone
and hydrocodone, and sedatives like Xanax and Valium.
She was convicted in the 2009 deaths of three patients - Vu Nguyen,
28, Steven Ogle, 24, and Joseph Rovero, 21. None resided anywhere
near Rowland Heights, and one, Rovero, was an Arizona State
University student from the San Francisco area.
Deputy District Attorney John Niedermann told jurors Tseng failed to
keep records of patient visits or prescriptions in dozens of
instances and faked medical records when authorities began
investigating her.
Defense lawyer Tracy Green said patients put themselves in jeopardy
by taking drug dosages "far in excess" of what Tseng had prescribed,
according to an account of closing arguments by City News Service.
Tseng, who received her medical degree from Michigan State
University, voluntarily surrendered her medical license prior to
arrest, but her federal license to prescribe drugs was revoked.
(Editing by Miral Fahmy)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
