People v. Tseng

Hsiu Ying Lisa Tseng (defendant) was a licensed physician who joined a clinic operated by her husband. Beginning in 2008, Tseng spent about 10 to 15 minutes with new patients and five minutes with them on return visits. Often, Tseng saw two or three unrelated patients in the same examination room at the same time. Tseng often did not perform medical examinations or obtain prior medical records of her patients, nor did Tseng corroborate nonspecific patient claims of pain and prior injuries before prescribing medications. Tseng acknowledged that most of her patients were drug-seeking and suffered from drug addiction but nevertheless wrote prescriptions for opioids, sedatives, muscle relaxants, and amphetamines, as well as controlled substances used to treat drug and opioid addictions. By 2010, the clinic had developed a reputation as a place where patients could obtain prescriptions for controlled substances with ease. Patients paid in cash and, according to one visitor, the clinic looked “like a parole office” with “drug dealing.” After several of Tseng’s patients died of suspected drug overdose shortly after obtaining prescriptions for controlled substances from her, Tseng was charged and convicted of three counts of second-degree murder. Tseng appealed on grounds that there was no evidence she acted with implied malice.