Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
California Doctor's Trial For Murder Could Have 'Chilling Effect' On Legitimate Pain Pill Prescriptions
Los Angeles Times: Murder Trial Sends Message To Doctors: 'Don't Get Reckless,' Medical Expert Says
During opening statements in her case Monday, Tseng hunched forward in her chair, settling in for a landmark second-degree murder trial that’s expected to last for months. The general practitioner, who scribbled notes on a yellow notepad and tapped her foot over and over, is the first California doctor ever charged with murdering patients who overdosed merely for prescribing them medication, Niedermann said. (Gerber, 8/31)
The Associated Press: California Doctor Faces Murder Trial In 3 Men’s Drug Deaths
A prosecutor says that even after several patients died of overdoses, the California doctor now charged in their deaths continued to prescribe powerful painkillers in appointments that lasted as little as three minutes. But the defense attorney for Dr. Hsiu-Ying “Lisa” Tseng says some of those patients were suicidal, others were using the prescriptions to party, and all took well over the recommended dosage. (Myers, 8/31)
The Washington Post: Murder Trial Begins For Alleged ‘Pill Mill’ Doctor After String Of Patients Overdose On Painkillers
On Monday, Tseng went on trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court for the alleged murder of Rovero and two other young men: all patients who came to her looking for painkillers and died from an overdose shortly after. She has pleaded not guilty. It’s a high stakes case that has drawn national scrutiny and stirred a thorny debate over medical ethics. (Miller, 9/1)
