In an era of heightened concern and disgust with doctors who are simply pill pushers a California doctor has learned the hard way patience for such professional misconduct is wearing thin. The Los Angeles Times reported, a doctor has been convicted of murder for patients’ drug overdoses. Dr. Hsiu-Ying “Lisa” Tseng has been sentenced to 30 years to life in prison.
In a landmark case a judge has sentenced a Rowland Heights doctor to 30 years to life in prison for the murders of three of her patients who died from fatal overdoses. This sentence followed a finding by a Los Angeles jury that Dr. Tseng was guilty of second-degree murder. This was the first time there was a conviction of murder of a doctor in the United States for over-prescribing drugs. Prior to the sentencing Superior Court Judge George G. Lomeli said Dr. Tseng had tried to blame patients, other doctors and pharmacists instead of taking responsibility for her own actions.
CBS News reports a California doctor was sentenced to prison for prescriptions which left three patients dead. Dr. Tseng was convicted of murder for prescribing excessive amounts of painkillers which left several patients dead. Prosecutors said she prescribed drugs to people who simply didn’t need them and that she ignored signs of overdosing in her patients. Dr. Tseng’s lawyer said she was naive to prescribe so many drugs and that she didn’t consider that her patients would abuse the medication.
The Drug Enforcement Administration says Dr. Tseng wrote more than 27,000 prescriptions during a period of three years. This came out to an average of 25 prescriptions a day. She ran her very lucrative practice out of a storefront medical clinic with her husband. Dr. Tseng gave out prescriptions after appointments which sometimes lasted only three minutes. This case serves as a warning to other doctors to be very careful about the prescription of drugs. The practice of high quality medicine is not synonymous with being a pill pusher.
