The Drug-Dealing Doctor

This is the story of a rogue doctor who, by proxy, took the life of a young adult. It happened in my family, so I cannot be completely neutral. But I'll try to be as objective as I can.

Jenny was a troubled child, failing in school, using marijuana daily, "experimenting" with cocaine and LSD, and selling various illicit drugs.. She was thrown off her school's basketball team. She was chronically depressed. Probably, her taking all kinds of drugs was a way of dealing with her intense depression. In addition, as if the drugs weren't enough, Jenny was struggling with her sexual orientation.

She would see her family doctor on a regular basis. He was an elderly gentleman, who had lost his medical license in two states for being convicted of a federal crime. Jenny's state, however, chose to ignore these warning signs and, amazingly, granted him a medical license anyway!

This "doctor," and the quotes are intended, regularly prescribed Jenny just what she did not need. For example, he gave her the tranquilizer Xanax, to calm her down. Xanax is a highly addictive relative of Valium. Almost no legitimate doctors prescribe this anymore - especially to a teen. He gave her promethazine with codeine. The codeine part you know; the promethazine is a drug related to Thorazine. The combination of these drugs is used as a cough medicine. He prescribed - are you ready for this? - Oxy-Contin! Jenny was hooked on all of these meds, but her doctor kept prescribing them anyway.

On the last day of her life, Jenny and her mother had a "girls' day." They went shopping. They went to a spa. They both had manicures. They went out to a fine restaurant for lunch. When they arrived home after such a wonderful day, Jenny said she was going to sleep early.

In the morning, her mother found her dead. Two pint bottles of promethazine and codeine were at her bedside. The police were called. The medical examiner did an autopsy because of the suspiciousness of the death. He found multiple illicit drugs in her blood.

This tragedy could have been averted at a number of points in time. First of all, Jenny's state should never have granted the doctor a medical license. The doctor should have done his due diligence to see whether or not Jenny was using. He could have learned from the police that she was, and that she was on probation for multiple drug offenses. It was a death sentence in the making for the doctor to prescribe all those wretched drugs to Jenny. She took them readily. She didn't even need to "doctor shop." She found everything she needed at her family doctor's offices. She didn't need to steal prescription blanks either.

Jenny was also failed by her pharmacy. Why didn't the druggist notice a trend with this doctor and at the very least contact him to learn the reason for all of his precriptions?

Jenny was failed by her friends. They knew she was selling and using but never reported her to anyone.

What should ahppen to the doctor? There should be a complaint filed against him with the state medical board. The Board could rule that his license be revoked. The doctor could also be criminally charged for involuntary manslaughter. (Here's the forensic angle.) He could be sued in a civil court for medical malpractice. He is a danger to the community.

It's too early to know what the parents will do. What would you do?

Stephen