Former California physician Thomas Keller was sentenced to 30 months in prison for illegally prescribing Schedule II and IV controlled substances leading to the overdose death of a 17-year-old patient, the Justice Department said April 7.
Mr. Keller, 75, was indicted Sept. 27, 2018, after repeatedly prescribing "high dosage levels" of oxycodone, carisoprodol and diazepam — a combination known colloquially as "the Holy Trinity" — to the teen patient, KRON reported April 6. She was struggling with mental health issues and died of an overdose of oxycodone and other drugs.
Mr. Keller first prescribed oxycodone to the patient in December 2016, distributed diazepam to her in January 2017, and distributed more oxycodone to her in February 2017, the Justice Department said. He distributed the muscle relaxer carisoprodol to her on July 10, 2017, and she fatally overdosed two weeks later.
In a different case, Mr. Keller was arrested in 2020 for second-degree murder charges following the drug overdose deaths of four patients who were under his care from 2016 to 2017, The Press Democrat reported April 6. He was found not guilty in two of the deaths, and the jury was hung on five other counts.
He surrendered his medical license in 2019.
Mr. Keller also previously served six months in jail for sexual misconduct with patients in 1989.