You may remember the case of Dr. William Valuck, a pain management physician charged with eight counts of second degree murder for over-prescribing narcoticpainkillers and anti-anxiety medications, leading to the overdose deaths of eight patients.
Before he was arrested, Valuck prescribed more narcotic painkillers, including hydrocodone and oxycodone, than any other physician in Oklahoma, and somepharmacies had stopped filling prescriptions for him.
Initially charged with nine counts of first degree murder, one count was dropped after prosecutors had insufficient evidence to determine that a driverwas under the influence of Valuck-prescribed drugs when he caused an accident that killed another person. The remaining eight murder counts were amendedto second degree murder.
Valuck was also charged with 72 counts of illegal drug distribution. All of those counts were dismissed as part of a plea agreement in which Valuck wouldplead guilty to the eight murder counts.
In exchange for his guilty plea, the former physician was sentenced to 10 years in prison for each count--the minimum for second degree murder. However,two years were suspended in each case, and all counts were to run concurrently. In other words, Valuck was essentially given 8 years in prison for8 counts of murder.
The prosecutor defended what would otherwise be considered much too light a sentence by pointing to the defendant's age and health, saying:
"Realistically, we�re talking about pleading to most or all of the remaining years that he has left. So, in this case, we felt like eight years in prisonwas just. On the flip side, the family gets immediacy, finality. They don�t have to worry about picking up the newspaper every morning for thenext few years to see if some appellate court has reversed a jury�s sentence. They don�t have to go through the arduous agony of a jury trial, andperhaps most of all, they get this justice quickly."
But families are seeking justice in other ways as well. Valuck is named in nine civil cases. Five of those cases are filed by surviving family membersof people identified as victims in the former doctor's criminal case. Two others have filed suit saying that Valuck's medical negligence caused theirloved ones' deaths, even though those two individuals were not identified as victims in the criminal case.
Two of the lawsuits have been filed by surviving former patients of Dr. Valuck. These two plaintiffs say that Valuck's medical negligence is responsiblefor their drug addictions and resulting medical complications. It will be interesting to see how the courts weigh personal responsibility versus professionalresponsibility in medical negligence cases related to drug addiction.
