Doctor Convicted of Murder in Connection With Three Overdose Deaths in L.A. County

A doctor was convicted of murder last week in connection with the drug overdose deaths of three patients in Los Angeles County, CNN reports.

Hsiu-Ying “Lisa” Tseng was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison. She is the only physician in the United States to be convicted of murder for recklessly prescribing drugs, according to the lead prosecutor, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney John Niedermann.

Tseng was charged with second-degree murder for the deaths of Joey Rovero, 21, Steven Ogle, 25, and Vu Nguyen, 28. According to Niedermann, Tseng was already aware of three earlier patients who fatally overdosed in 2007 and 2008 after she prescribed them drugs.

Joey Rovero’s mother, April, wrote to the judge about how she had been expecting her son home from Arizona State University for winter break when she learned he had died on December 18, 2009.

“Instead of welcoming him back from school and enjoying our usual holiday time together, we were struggling through our shock and grief to write an obituary and pick out a casket, clothes and grave site for Joey to be buried in the day after Christmas,” Rovero wrote.

Law enforcement officials told CNN that Tseng wrote prescriptions without performing meaningful medical exams, and without evidence the patients had a medical necessity for the drugs. She wrote prescriptions despite pleas from parents and other relatives about the worsening addiction of their loved ones, the article notes.

Tseng’s lawyer, Tracy Green, said her client intends to appeal both her conviction and sentence.