Patient Testifies Dr. Stan Li Prescribed Him Several Powerful Drugs At Once
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A patient testified Monday that Dr. Stan Li prescribed him half a dozen powerful medications at once and showed no concern when he complained about side effects.
Li is facing manslaughter charges after authorities said he sold painkiller prescriptions to two drug-addicted patients who died of overdoses.
The witness, Matt Reale, told jurors that a visit to Li would take five minutes or less, WCBS 880's Irene Cornell reported. Reale said he would take a number at the clinic and then wait with as many as 100 addicted patients.
Reale said Li prescribed him Percocet, oxycodone, morphine, fentanyl and Xanax. When he told the doctor he was experiencing blackouts, getting lost for hours and becoming scared and angry, Li instructed him to keep taking the medications and he would get used to the side effects, Reale testified.
He helped jump-start the investigation into Li and his practice. The last straw, Reale said, came when he went into the clinic to complain about being overbilled and was confronted by two large men, whom he described as Li's bouncers, who chased him out of the office.
Prosecutors have portrayed Li as a drug dealer with a medical degree, even alleging the doctor kept writing narcotics prescriptions to one patient who overdosed five times in a year and another whose father implored him to stop.
When state officials stripped Li of his medical license in January 2012, they said the doctor also overlooked such warning signs as requests for early refills and state reports that patients were doctor-shopping for multiple prescriptions.
Authorities have also said that Li provided 24 prescriptions filled by David Laffer, who later pleaded guilty to killing four people in the 2011 robbery of a pharmacy in Medford, Long Island.
Laffer is serving a life sentence for murder. His wife, Melinda Brady, admitted to driving the getaway car and is serving 25 years.
Li's lawyer has said the New Jersey-based doctor acted properly and that Li didn't know some patients were misusing drugs he prescribed.
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