Dr. Carlos Estiandan was up to no good, and the Medical Board of California was on to him. He had prescribed powerful painkillers to addicts who had no medical need for them, conducted sham examinations and appeared to be a key supplier for drug dealers, court records show. Worse, one of his patients had fatally overdosed on drugs he prescribed, a board investigator learned. She confronted the doctor and told him the death was "the inevitable result" of his high-volume prescribing, according to her investigative report.

Dying for Relief

Dr. Carlos Estiandan was up to no good, and the Medical Board of California was on to him.

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Video: Pills For Life

Near-death injuries led to drug dependency for John Jackson, a patient of another doctor featured in Sunday's installment.

He had prescribed powerful painkillers to addicts who had no medical need for them, conducted sham examinations and appeared to be a key supplier for drug dealers, court records show. Worse, one of his patients had fatally overdosed on drugs he prescribed, a board investigator learned. She confronted the doctor and told him the death was "the inevitable result" of his high-volume prescribing, according to her investigative report.

Unknown to the investigator and the medical board, two other Estiandan patients had suffered fatal overdoses. More deaths would follow. It was not the first time the board had failed to protect patients from a doctor believed to be abusing his prescription pad.

This Sunday find out what happened to Estiandan at latimes.com/prescriptiondrugs.