Doctor got 30 years & life imprisonment

Emobileclinic Health News

It was first of its kind, as 46 years old medical practitioner was sentenced to 30 years and life imprisonment by Los Angeles Country Superior Court Judge Lomeli over the death of 3 patients within the space of 3 years. Dr Tseng’s case began with Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigation in 2008 after a reported overdose prescription by one of deceased families.

She was found guilty of three counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of three young California men: Vu Nguyen, 28; Steven Ogle, 24; and Joseph “Joey” Rovero III, 21.

Also added were three counts of second-degree murder and was found guilty of another 19 counts of obtaining drugs substance by fraud. During the trial, she told the court that her patients should be held responsible for the use of the drugs but she was however said to be remorseful when she was sentenced .Why her case was peculiar was because there was no record of office visit between her and the patients which she claimed to be very brief and she became very shaky when authorities began to look into her medical practices. According to DEA, most of her patients were young males‘

‘Although some patients abused the drugs, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone/acetaminophen, and alprazolam, others sold them on the street.’ says Medscape. The youngest of the victim was 21 years old who met the doctor once during a road trip with his friends and was said to be suffering from lower back pain, hand pain, and wrist pain, as well as anxiety. According to Medscape, Dr Tseng prescribed to him alprazolam, oxycodone, and carisoprodol, a muscle relaxant’. He was a student at Arizona State University and had 5 months to graduate before his death. ‘Rovero died 9 days after visiting Dr Tseng. The autopsy revealed the cause of death ‘as acute intoxication of oxycodone and alprazolam’. Alcohol also was found in his body. Osteopathic Medical board queried Dr Tseng for failure to follow due medical diligence; no proper examination, history of the patients both medically and with the state drug monitoring program to see if the patient was a ‘drug –abusing doctor shopper’

“It is unusual for a man his age to be using high-dose opioid analgesic therapy for a chronic pain condition in the absence of extenuating circumstances, such as addiction,” the board said.