Jury Finds Doctor Guilty in Painkiller Case

Deliberating for only half a day, a San Fernando Superior Court jury Wednesday found a Newhall doctor guilty of illegally prescribing more than 5,000 pain pills to two patients over a six-month period.

Dr. Sandra Soho, 49, known as Dr. Stanley Soho before a 1986 sex-change operation, was convicted of two counts of prescribing controlled substances for other than medical purposes and two counts of prescribing drugs to an addict.

Soho, who remains free on bail, faces a maximum sentence of three years and eight months in prison when sentencing is imposed May 15.

“I think the jury did the appropriate thing,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Andrew Flier said.

Neither Soho nor her attorney, Alex J. Forgette, could be reached for comment.

Soho’s convictions were based on complaints from two Santa Clarita women who said that between August, 1989, and February, 1990, Soho prescribed more than 5,000 pain pills to them.

During the two-week trial, the women testified that they were visiting Soho as often as once a week and receiving prescriptions for up to 100 pills per visit. The women said they became addicted to the pills.

Flier said Soho kept issuing prescriptions for financial gain by having the patients make weekly office visits.

During the trial, Forgette had argued that Soho was acting in good faith to relieve the pain of her two patients, and that the two patients filed complaints against Soho because they were angry that she refused to issue them more prescriptions.