Fountain Valley Doctor Expected To Surrender, Appear In Court Today On Drug Trafficking Charges

SANTA ANA, CA --- A Fountain Valley-based physician accused of issuing powerful pain-killers to patients who did not need them, including four who later died, is expected to be arraigned today.

Dr. Victor Boom Huat Siew, 65, of Laguna Beach, is expected to surrender to authorities today and make his initial court appearance in Santa Ana this afternoon, when he will be asked how he pleads.

A federal grand jury indictment unsealed Monday accuses the Fountain Valley-based Siew and two of his assistants of issuing unneeded prescription drugs for patients, including the four who died.

The indictment, which was returned Wednesday, was unsealed after one of the defendants was arrested in the Bay Area on the drug trafficking charges Monday morning, according to Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Kaitlyn Phuong Nguyen, 31, of San Jose, was arrested Monday morning and was due in court in Northern California later that day. Another co-defendant, Thanh Nha T. Pham, 45, of Fountain Valley, will surrender to authorities later this week, Mrozek said.

Siew had a practice in Fountain Valley, and Nguyen and Pham worked for him as physician assistants and would see patients when the doctor was unavailable, according to the indictment.

The three are accused of dispensing prescriptions for drugs such as oxycodone, methadone and alprazolam despite the lack of a "legitimate medical purpose," the indictment alleges.

The alleged conspiracy started in January 2009. Siew is accused of issuing a prescription for methadone, alprazolam and amphetamine salts to a patient who died eight days later from "acute polydrug intoxication," according to the indictment.
Another patient died two days after receiving a prescription from Siew for methadone, alprazolam, hydroxyalprazolam, desalkyflurazepam and nordiazepam, the indictment alleges.

A confidential informant received a prescription from Nguyen -- that had been "pre-signed" by the doctor -- for various drugs on Aug. 27, 2012, according to the indictment. Another patient received a prescription from Nguyen that was pre-signed by Siew on Sept. 21, 2012, the indictment alleges.

Another patient who received a prescription from Siew on Jan. 9, 2013, died three days later from an overdose, according to the indictment, which alleges that another patient died eight days after receiving a prescription from Siew on Nov. 12, 2013.

--City News Service