Newport Beach doctor accused of over-prescribing opiods insists he believed his patients needed them

Attorneys in the trial of a Newport Beach doctor accused of over-prescribing opioids and other drugs that wound up killing patients and sold on the street in Oregon rested their cases Thursday after two weeks of testimony.

Federal prosecutors accused Jeffrey Olsen of selling prescriptions of oxycodone, hydrocodone, Adderall and Xanax without a legitimate medical reason in a 34-count indictment. He and his defense maintain he genuinely believed his patients had real ailments that warranted powerful, habit-forming medication for the management of chronic pain.

The case centered on Olsen’s treatment of six patients. One was James Goodell, an Oregon resident and gunshot wound survivor who came to Olsen with evidence of nerve damage in his medical records. Another, Ken Kausler, reported chronic pain due to an old snowboarding accident that damaged his spine and dislocated his shoulder.

“In all six of these cases, his prescribing was done for a legitimate medical purpose,” Dr. James P. Murphy, an expert on pain and addiction medicine testifying for the defense, said Thursday.

But those patients included informants working with the Drug Enforcement Administration, an undercover police officer and admitted drug dealers. Several told jurors they never had any intention of using the medication they received to treat any pain they may or may not have been experiencing themselves.

Klauson testified Monday that he was “doctor shopping” to obtain medication he could either sell or trade for other potentially lucrative drugs like methamphetamine. Olsen issued 10 prescriptions for oxycodone and Xanax to him between April 19 and Aug. 2 in 2012, often signing off the prescription for two-to three-months’ worth of medication within weeks after the previous prescription had been filled.

Klauson and other patients would fill multiple prescriptions at a time, raising suspicion from insurance providers and pharmacists who warned Olsen. One described a person under his care as “a potential overdose patient.”

In messages to some patients, Olsen appeared to be aware prior to his indictment that he was the subject of a DEA investigation. He repeatedly noted that the risk of getting into legal trouble and potentially losing his medical license were a factor in his billing

“I know your injuries are valid,” Olsen wrote in response to a text to Klauson asking for a replacement for prescriptions he claimed to have lost. “That’s not the issue. It’s your carelessness with the prescriptions and the medication.”

Olsen testified that he genuinely believed his patients were telling him the truth about their health. However, he did acknowledge that he could have done a better job of organizing and tracking his patients’ records.

Olsen was indicted almost eight years ago, in June 2017, and his attorneys at the time had filed numerous continuances to push back his trial date. But in 2020, when federal courts announced plans to suspend proceedings amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, his legal team raised complaint over his right to a speedy trial.

On that basis, Judge Cormac Carney dismissed the case. However, the 9th Circuit of Appeals later reversed that decision, describing the dismissal as a “miscarriage of justice.”

Attorneys in the case will give their closing statements Monday before the matter is placed into the hands of a jury.