Published
3 years agoon
SACRAMENTO — California’s attorney general said Wednesday that he is charging a Northern California doctor with killing four patients by overprescribing opioids and narcotics, crimes he linked to the nationwide opioid epidemic.
Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed multiple criminal charges against Dr. Thomas McNeese Keller, 72, of Santa Rosa related to nine of his patients. The charges include second-degree murder in four deaths and felony elderly abuse for a fifth patient who also died. The murder charges could bring a life sentence.
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It’s the first time that a California attorney general has filed murder charges against a doctor for overprescribing opioids, Becerra’s office said. His office last year persuaded a state appeals court to uphold the second-degree murder conviction of a former osteopathic doctor, Hsiu Ying Tseng, who is serving a life sentence for the overdose deaths of three patients, but those charges were initially filed by a local prosecutor.Keller was arrested Monday and remains jailed in Sonoma County awaiting a bail hearing next week.
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Cox called the murder charges “an effort to grab attention related to the opioid crisis,” saying he looks forward to exonerating his client.COVID-19 Has Dramatically Lowered the Life Expectancy of Californians
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