LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles-area doctor was convicted of murder Friday in a landmark case for killing three patients who overdosed on what a prosecutor called “crazy, outrageous amounts” of painkillers she prescribed.
The second-degree murder convictions of Dr. Hsiu-Ying “Lisa” Tseng were the first against a U.S. doctor for recklessly prescribing drugs, the Los Angeles district attorney’s office said.
It’s rare to bring homicide charges against a physician, but the case came amid a prescription drug abuse epidemic that has led lawmakers to try to rein in so-called pill mills that dole out medications with little scrutiny.
A dozen of Tseng’s patients died, though prosecutors only brought three murder charges because of other factors involved in some of those deaths, such as drugs prescribed by other doctors and a possible suicide.
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