Mother Of Son Who Died Of Drug Overdose Speaks Out About Doctor Being Sentenced For Murder
ALISO VIEJO (CBSLA.com) — The Orange County doctor got a 30-year sentence.
"Thirty years to life. She absolutely deserved it, she destroyed lives," said Laguna Niguel mom Jodi Barber.
KCAL9's Stacey Butler spoke to Barber on Friday evening and the mom was okay with the sentence -- even if justice came too late for her son.
In a groundbreaking sentence on Friday, Dr. Lisa Tseng was given that 30 years to life sentence for prescribing massive amounts of prescription drugs from her Rowland Heights office.
Tseng was convicted of three counts of second-degree murder.
"Those patients that died are talked about but what about the friends [that supply]," said Barber.
She lost her 19-year-old son Jared to the opioid Opana. She says he got it from his friends -- the friends, Riley and Ryan, were patients of Dr. Tseng's. Both died of drug overdoses.
"Everywhere I went, her name was brought up, honestly, all of these kids knew of Lisa Tseng," she says.
RELATED LINK: Ex-Rowland Heights Doctor Sentenced To 30 Years In Prison
Barber says after her son died, she went through his wallet. She found Dr. Tseng's business card. She says she marched into her office to ask one question.
"Why would you over prescribe all these pills to one kid in one week's time? Vicodin, Oxycontin, Opana. She said 'No comment, no comment.Don't come to me. It's the parents' fault.'"
Barber suspects Tseng destroyed hundreds of families and hopes the sentencing sent a message.
"I really hope that all these other dirty doctors, drug dealing doctors, see what happened to Lisa Tseng and stop what they're doing," she said.
Nine of Tseng's patients died in a three-year period. In that same time, she reportedly wrote 27,000 prescriptions.
