Additional coverage: Prescription drug deaths

The Times series "Dying for Relief" is examining the epidemic of prescription drug deaths.
Previous coverage related to the issue appears below.
Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times

The prescription drug toll

November 15, 2012

Editorial

The prescription drug toll

Proposed state legislation would require more detailed reporting on doctors and fatalities.

Tighter oversight of prescription drug deaths sought

7:44 PM PST, November 12, 2012

Tighter oversight of prescription drug deaths sought

In response to a Times report, state Sen. Curren D. Price Jr. (D-Los Angeles) wants coroners to report all such deaths to the state medical board.

5:26 PM PDT, May 4, 2011

Column: Curing the state's medical regulation system

Woefully understaffed and regularly robbed of budget funds, the Medical Board of California needs to go public about the decimation of its enforcement capabilities.

September 11, 2012

Prosecution of doctor in overdose cases worries physicians

Some fear that crackdowns in Los Angeles and other parts of the country could have a chilling effect on the use of pain medication for legitimate reasons.

June 26, 2012

Rowland Heights doctor to be tried for murder in 3 overdose deaths

Hsiu-Ying 'Lisa' Tseng failed to heed warnings that 'something was terribly wrong and young men were repeatedly overdosing or dying,' the judge says.

March 1, 2012

Doctor charged in fatal prescription overdoses

Hsiu-Ying 'Lisa' Tseng is being held on $3-million bail in a rare attempt to prosecute patients' deaths as crimes. A 2010 Times investigation linked her prescriptions to eight fatal overdoses.

January 5, 2012

Doctor arrested in probe of painkiller overdoses

Dr. Julio Diaz has been under investigation for allegedly prescribing addictive painkillers and other commonly abused drugs to patients who had no legitimate need for the medications.

October 27, 2011

Doctor indicted in prescription sales at coffeehouses

The physician sold prescriptions at coffeehouses, a car dealership and a Las Vegas casino, authorities say. One patient died of an overdose after he prescribed drugs for her.

October 5, 2011

Deaths linked to doctor accused of recklessly prescribing painkillers

Prosecutors considered it blind chance that a Southern California physician's prolific prescriptions hadn't led to deaths. But, in fact, fatal overdoses have occurred among those who got his pills.

October 17, 2010

Rowland Heights doctor's pills found their way into many hands

Authorities suspect Lisa Tseng's patients included some who resold drugs with deadly results.

October 15, 2010

CVS will pay record fine over sale of drug

The nation's largest pharmacy chain will pay $75 million in the unlawful sale of pseudoephedrine at stores in California and Nevada. The drug is a key ingredient in the manufacture of methamphetamine.

August 29, 2010

Families of those who overdosed have questions for doctor who prescribed

Dr. Lisa Tseng, a Rowland Heights osteopath, is the focus of a DEA probe into the over-prescribing of painkillers. At least six of her patients in their 20s have died since 2007.

August 27, 2010

Doctor whose office was searched by federal agents defends her procedures for prescribing drugs

Dr. Lisa Tseng, a Rowland Heights osteopath, says patients bear responsibility for the misuse of narcotics she prescribed.

August 26, 2010

Doctor's office raided in probe of illegal prescriptions

Osteopath is under investigation for allegedly prescribing oxycodone and other powerful narcotics without assessing her patients' needs.

July 24, 2010

Silver Lake doctor investigated in patient's fatal drug overdose

No charges had been filed against Marc Abrams by the time of his death this week. His lawyer said Abrams did nothing wrong.

April 9, 2010

Doctor's prescription for tragedy with painkillers

Defense said patients bullied physician into prescribing painkillers. Families tell a story of tragic addiction.

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