08/27/2010 // West Palm Beach, FL, USA // Sandra Quinlan // Sandra Quinlan
Rowland Heights, CA—Officials from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Medical Board of California raided the office of a Los Angeles County physician suspected of habitually prescribing potent medications to addicts Wednesday, August 25, 2010. Investigators contended in a federal search warrant affidavit that the doctor failed to properly evaluate patients’ medical needs for the drugs, as well as their evident addictions to them, according to information provided by the Los Angeles Times.
The affidavit, sworn by DEA Special Agent Robert J. Harkins, accuses Dr. Lisa Tseng of prescribing powerful narcotics such as oxycodone to “drug-seekers” without assessing whether they genuinely need the pain meds.
Three overdose deaths were also cited in the affidavit, noting that Tseng was the prescribing doctor in those cases. Based on the LA Times’ review of autopsy reports and interviews with family members, Tseng was the prescribing physician in five additional cases of fatal overdoses.
While DEA agents have referred to Dr. Tseng as “an imminent danger to public health and safety,” the Roland Heights physician maintained, “If one of my patients decides to take a month’s supply in a day, then there is nothing I can do about that.”
Tseng added, “I never intended to kill anybody… I really believe I did nothing wrong. I was really strict with my patients, and I followed guidelines… That is a totally wrongful allegation.”
Tseng has not been charged with any crimes, nor had her license to practice medicine been revoked. However, DEA authorities suspended her license to prescribe controlled substances pending further investigations.
Legal News Reporter: Sandra Quinlan– Legal News for California Personal Injury Lawyers.
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