“Crazy, Outrageous Amounts of Medication”
This February in Los Angeles, Dr. Hsiu-Ying “Lisa” Tseng was convicted of 3 counts of second degree murder. All 3 victims died from overdose. It was the first time a US doctor was found guilty of murder for over-prescribing drugs – but it probably won’t be the last.
According to prosecutors, Tseng sold “crazy, outrageous amounts of medication” to patients who didn’t need the pills. They say she prescribed multiple drugs illegally, didn’t keep records of her patients’ visits, and then faked medical records when authorities began investigating her.
Perhaps most damning, Tseng failed to recognize warning signs when her patients started showing dangerous behavior, even after family members contacted her begging for her to stop prescribing the drugs.
And in the meantime, she made millions of dollars haphazardly prescribing addictive painkillers like oxycodone and hydrocodone, popularly known as Percocet and Vicodin.
A Familiar Case
I’ve seen a case like this before. A client’s family member came to me after her relative overdosed. She too had called this patient’s doctor and begged him to stop prescribing the drugs. But they refused, and the patient eventually died.
A case like this is rare, but when it happens, the doctor isn’t usually convicted. Typically it goes to civil court, meaning the victim’s family sues the doctor. That’s often the only way to stop them from doing it again to someone else.
We were able to get a large settlement for this victim’s family, and hopefully we helped prevent something like this from happening again.
My Memphis law firm handles pharmaceutical injuries every day. Usually these are dangerous drugs that weren’t marketed honestly or that turn out to have dire side effects. But along with those cases are the ones that are also medical malpractice – meaning not only are the drugs addictive and scary, but the doctor knows it and continues to prescribe them even when all the warning signs are there and other people are telling them, “Stop doing this!”
In those cases, the family is usually the first to notice something is wrong. And they are ignored. Our justice system gives them the chance to have a voice. If you or a loved one has suffered from taking a medicine or using a medical device, you need the dangerous drugs lawyer Memphis, TN trusts to handle its toughest cases.
If you or a loved one has been injured by a prescription drug, contact me today to discuss your case for free.