The New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division First Department, has determined that
a doctor accused of operation of a "pill mill" for persons addicted to opioids and Xanax, was properly convicted of manslaughter in the overdose deaths of two persons to whom he had supplied drugs:
At bottom, all that was needed for the manslaughter charge to be sustained was for the People to satisfy its elements. That is, that defendant was 'aware of and consciously disregard[ed] a substantial and unjustifiable risk that [death] [would] occur . . . The risk [being] of such nature and degree that disregard thereof constitute[d] a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would observe in the situation' ... . The question then becomes whether the People presented sufficient evidence to establish that defendant consciously disregarded the risk that [the addicts] would die as a result of his prescribing practices. ...
People v. Stan XuHui Li, 2017 N.Y. Slip Op. 08438, First Dept 11-30-17
