Law Med Blog

Whitney Houston Final Coroner Report Leaves Death a Mystery

May 04, 2012 lawmed No comments

The Los Angeles County Coroner released his final report on the death of Whitney Houston earlier this month. In keeping with our tradition begun in the Michael Jackson case, we are presenting our analysis of the findings. We also present our usual disclaimer that we are not experts in forensic toxicology or pathology. At the same time the information we present either IS in our expertise or has been well researched. We had previously reported on the findings of the coroner after his office held a new reference last month. At that time Law Med expressed concerns regarding the statements of the coroner’s office regarding a cardiac event having led to drowning. We now address the issues in-depth. Comments are of course welcome, very much including those which disagree or point out errors.

Between 2:45 and 3:00 pm on 2/11/2012, Whitney Houston’s personal assistant left Houston alone in room … (Continued…)

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Drug Shortages Epidemic In Anesthesiology

May 03, 2012 lawmed 1 Comment

There is no end in sight to the now business as usual reality of drug shortages in medicine. Anesthesiology is hit particularly hard in the number of medications which are not being manufactured to meet demand. Here is a list of medications common to anesthesia practice which the FDA lists as being in short supply, and the reasons given. It contains the three most frequently administered medications in the practice of anesthesia: propofol, fentanyl and midazolam. Law Med points out that it is no coincidence that only drugs which are off patent and now generics seem to have shortages.

Alfentanil Injection Material shortage and increased demand.

Atracurium besylate Manufacturing delays.

Atropine Sulfate Injection Manufacturing delay and increased demand.

Bupivacaine Hydrochloride Injection Manufacturing delay.

Calcium Chloride Injection Manufacturing delay.

Chloroprocaine (Nesacaine) Injection Increased demand and manufacturing delay.

Etomidate Injection increased demand and manufacturing delay.

Fentanyl Citrate Injection Manufacturing delay causing increased … (Continued…)

Former Judge Was Addicted To Narcotics On Bench, Had Sex During Breaks

April 08, 2012 lawmed 2 Comments

Knox County, Tn., Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner was heavily addicted to prescription drugs during his final two years on the bench. So addicted in fact that he was having sex and buying pills during courtroom breaks, even purchasing from convicts he had previously sentenced. His addiction has called into question many of the cases he presided over, including one of Knoxville’s most notorious murder trials.

Baumgartner stepped down from the bench and pleaded guilty in March 2011 to a single count of official misconduct. It took another eight months before an investigation the seriousness of the judge’s drug problem It has cast doubt about whether he was sober enough to be sitting on the bench.

Another judge has tossed out the convictions from the high-profile murder case and ordered new trials. Many other defendants are filing motions for new trials. Due to the sheer number of people convicted in … (Continued…)

Calif Strip Mall Doc Charged With Murder In Prescription Drug Deaths

April 02, 2012 lawmed No comments

A Rowland Heights, California physician pleaded not guilty Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court to murder charges in connection with three fatal prescription drug overdoses.

Hsiu-Ying “Lisa” Tseng D.O., 42, is charged with three counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Vu Nguyen, 28, of Lake Forest; Steven Ogle, 25, of Palm Desert; and Joey Rovero, 21, an Arizona State University student from San Ramon, east of San Francisco. She also is charged with 20 felony counts of prescribing painkillers and anti-anxiety drugs to people who had no legitimate medical need for the medications. She is being held on $3-million bail.

Judge Shelly Torrealba denied a request from Tseng’s attorney, T. Edward Welbourn, to lower her bail. “I see this situation no differently than any other murder situation,” Torrealba said. “Three people are dead.”

The charges against Tseng are a relatively rare attempt to hold a physician criminally … (Continued…)

Philly Infant Spinal Cord Cutting Doc Pleads Not Guilty To Drug Charges

January 24, 2012 lawmed No comments

Kermit Gosnell, 70, the West Philadelphia abortionist facing state capital murder charges, pleaded not guilty to federal drug charges yesterday.

Gosnell is presently awaiting a March 2013 trial date in state court, charged with murder in the 2009 death of a Virginia woman undergoing an abortion and with killing seven live newborns by plunging scissors into their necks and severing their spinal cords. Investigators believe he may have killed hundreds of infants in the same manner.

Last month, federal prosecutors charged Gosnell with using his women’s medical clinic as a pill mill to dispense thousands of prescriptions for highly-addictive narcotics to cash-paying customers between 2008 and January 2010. The indictment said Gosnell distributed hundreds of thousands of oxycodone and alprazolam (Xanax) pills and 19,000 bottles of cough syrup containing codeine during that time. Many of the drugs were later sold on the street for cash, prosecutors said. Gosnell faces a … (Continued…)

Alonna Norberg Says Propofol Rape Case Hubby A Liar

January 12, 2012 lawmed No comments

Dr. Jon Norberg appeared before cameras last Friday proclaiming his innocence to allegations that he injected his wife with the powerful anesthetic propofol against her will on multiple occasions and then raped her. This was after the state of North Dakota indefinitely suspended his medical license and the surgeon’s open court no contest plea to misdemeanor sexual assault and guilty plea to felony reckless endangerment. We have discussed why Norberg’s statements are false on their face previously. Now Alonna Norberg, the pediatric emergency medicine physician wife of Jon Norberg is speaking out in a statement sent to Forum Communications.

“In all of these legal arenas, there is a factual record demonstrating that Jon Norberg used a powerful drug in an inappropriate fashion and under dangerous conditions and sexually assaulted me,” Alonna Norberg said in her statement. “I did not consent to him doing so.”

Norberg has claimed his wife … (Continued…)

Felon Dr. Norberg Defense Of Propofol Use On Wife FAILS [Video]

January 08, 2012 lawmed 1 Comment

In what can only be described as a pathetic attempt to justify what was at best gross medical negligence and unethical behavior, and at worst chemical incapacitation for the purpose of committing serial rape, Dr. Jon Norberg, 41, of Fargo N.D. went on camera Friday, days after pleading guilty to lesser charges of felony reckless endangerment and misdemeanor sexual imposition.

If the public learned anything about propofol from the Michael Jackson case , it is the fact that it should NEVER be administered in someone’s home under ANY circumstances, and that it is a very dangerous drug in untrained hands. The good Dr. Norberg would have us believe that he is somehow qualified and even experienced in the administration of propofol and that a reasonable physician might inject his wife with it over and over to treat an illness. There is not an ounce of truth in this. Not an … (Continued…)

Judge: Suspend License Of Physician Charged With Propofol Rape

December 31, 2011 lawmed No comments

BISMARCK, N.D. — An administrative law judge has recommended a Fargo doctor’s medical license be suspended indefinitely for frequently giving propofol, a powerful sedative and anesthetic and the drug that killed Michael Jackson, to a woman in his home. Judge Allen Hoberg determined that Jon David Norberg, 41, engaged in the “performance of unprofessional conduct likely to deceive, defraud, or harm the public” as described in state law. Norberg is out on bail after being charged with gross sexual imposition and felony reckless endangerment. The North Dakota Board of Medical Examiners will consider whether to suspend his medical license indefinitely next week.

His accuser was not a patient of his and she alleges the incidents took place at his home on multiple occasions over a period of 18 months.

In a prepared filing, Norberg told the board he used the drug to relieve the woman’s pain and help her to … (Continued…)

Muscle Relaxant Soma Now Schedule IV Controlled Substance

December 24, 2011 lawmed No comments

The DEA published its final rule scheduling Soma (carisoprodal) as a controlled substance on December 12. The rule takes effect on January 12, 2012.

From the FDA Law Blog of the law firm Hyman, Phelps & McNamara:

DEA Federally Controls Carisoprodol as a Schedule IV Substance, Establishes Regulatory Timeline

By Larry K. Houck –

The Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) published its long awaited final rule in the Federal Register today (76 Fed. Reg. 77,330 (Dec. 12, 2011)) placing carisoprodol into schedule IV of the federal Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”). Federal scheduling of carisoprodol follows control of the drug by eighteen states around the country. Effective January 12, 2012, DEA’s placement pertains to carisoprodol (widely distributed under the trade name of Soma®), and its salts, isomers and salts of isomers.

DEA’s placement of carisoprodol in schedule IV subjects manufacturers, distributors, dispensers such as pharmacies and physicians, importers, exporters, and anyone in

… (Continued…)

NY Pain Doc Arrested: 10 Patients Dead From OD [VIDEO]

November 23, 2011 lawmed No comments

A Queens NY pain management doctor made a practice of peddling prescriptions to addicts and drug dealers, including a man who killed four people in a pharmacy robbery and at least 10 of his patients have died of drug overdoses according to authorities.

Dr. Stan Li wrote more than 17,000 prescriptions – mainly for oxycodone and other highly addictive painkillers – in the last 2 1/2 years at his Queens weekend clinic where he would see up to 120 patients per day. One patient had overdosed numerous times yet Li continued to prescribe him narcotics until ultimately he had a fatal overdose.

Li’s lawyer, Aaron M. Wallenstein, says the doctor denies everything, has acted “responsibly” and “wants to fight this to the end.” Li, 57, is being held on $500,000 bail after pleading not guilty to prescription sale and reckless endangerment charges. Currently the charges all relate to one patient, … (Continued…)

Company Increases Availabillity Of Propofol

October 18, 2011 lawmed No comments

APP Pharmaceuticals increases Propofol production.

From Pharmaceutical Business Review

APP Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Fresenius Kabi Pharmaceuticals, has increased the availability of its drugs including APP Diprivan (propofol 1%) and APP Propofol 1% (generic Diprivan).

The company is said to have increased the production to supply the US market and meet the clinical needs of health care professionals. Propofol, marketed under the brand name, Diprivan, is a fast-onset sedative-hypnotic agent used for the induction and maintenance of anesthesia or sedation.

APP Pharmaceuticals president and CEO John Ducker said in order to maintain a consistent supply of this drug, the company has responded promptly in the face of drug shortages to meet market demand.… (Continued…)

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