Dr. Lisa Tseng prescribes meds to undercover agent - caught on tape

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Video from an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent shows an inside look at the office of a doctor who allegedly dispensed meds recklessly and in massive quantities.

In the video, the agent poses as a patient to find out what it will take to obtain a prescription from Rowland Heights osteopath, Dr. Lisa Tseng.

He vaguely described an old wrist injury and asked for Oxycontin -- a powerful painkiller. Tseng, who had settled five wrongful death suits by the time the video was taken, balked at the agent's story.

"I don't even see a scar on your wrist," she said in the video. Yet within six minutes, Tseng ended up writing a prescription.

"I am only going to write you a 10 day supply, and I don't want to see you within 10 days, okay?" she told the agent.

The DEA agent was able to walk out -- not with a prescription for Oxycontin, but for Vicodin and Xanax, which are two lesser painkillers, but none medically necessary.

Tseng faces 19 felony charges for allegedly prescribing meds for no medical purpose and three counts of second-degree murder after three more of her patients died. Prosecutors said such serious charges are justified after Tseng allegedly failed to perform basic exams, order x-rays or send patients to specialists.

In her preliminary hearing, investigators described her office as a disaster zone where controlled drugs were left unlocked, allowing for patient access. Files were also mixed with boxes of junk mail. Investigators said Tseng was unable to produce certain files either because she lost them or she failed to record patient information.

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fraud, legal, health care, los angeles news, miriam hernandez

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