Doctor Arrested For Writing Illegal Prescriptions, 1 Death

Jenny Albano

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A doctor was arrested Tuesday, May 6, for writing numerous illegal painkiller prescriptions, which led to the death of a 28 year-old.

Dr. Wesley Albert, 78, is being held for investigation of second-degree murder in the overdose of Jason Morgan of Riverside, who had 30 bottles of narcotics prescribed by Albert when he died, officials said. Morgan died, they said, after Albert gave him a large prescription for Soma, a muscle relaxant prescribed for acute pain.

Albert was arrested after a 10 month investigation by the San Diego pharmaceutical task force which is run by the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement.  After one of Albert's patients was arrested for possessing illegal prescription drugs, agents found that Albert was selling hundreds of illegal painkiller prescriptions.  He would prescribe several times the normal amount of each drug and would receive $50 to $100 for each prescription.

People from Riverside, Orange and San Diego counties learned that Albert was prescribing prescription drugs for cash, and many people flocked to the hotel where he had been residing for months.  Albert did not examine his patients and did not ask the questions a normal doctor would ask before prescribing medications.  According to staff at his previous job, Albert retired, and his license expired last month.

The cause of Morgan's death was heart failure and Soma intoxication; he had five times the recommended amount of the drug in his system.