Medical License of Doctor in Fatal Crash Suspended

A court commissioner Friday suspended the medical license of a Laguna Beach physician who is charged with murder in a head-on collision that killed a Mission Viejo couple and critically injured their daughter.

Orange County Superior Court Commissioner Eleanor M. Palk ruled that although Dr. Ronald J. Allen is being held without bail, he “may be in a position to harm the public, and that’s certainly something we want to prevent.”

Allen, 31, faces two murder counts in connection with the death of Noreen and Mark Minzey last month. The couple’s 11-year-old daughter was severely injured in the crash.

In documents presented in court Friday, a physician acting for the Medical Board of California determined that Allen tested positive for “amphetamines, benzodiazepines, opiates and alcohol” immediately after the crash.

Palk ordered attorneys for Allen and the medical board to return to court Aug. 24 for a hearing on whether the restraining order should be made permanent, while the board makes its final administrative finding.

The July 11 collision took place on Santiago Canyon Road, about sunset, when Allen’s vehicle crossed the center line of the two-lane highway and smashed into the Minzeys’ car, killing them instantly, witnesses and police said. The family was returning from a softball game.

Allen, a Chicago-area physician specializing in AIDS treatment, was reportedly depressed over financial and professional problems, as well as the death that day of his father.

Ten days earlier, Allen had been arrested on charges of driving under the influence of drugs, hit and run and resisting arrest.