Negligence, Not Murder

According to the LA Times the California Attorney General has charged Santa Rosa physician Thomas McNeese Keller, 72, with second-degree murder in the deaths of four of his patients from overdose. While Keller may have failed to meet the standard of care, leaving him open to charges of malpractice, he had no incentive to kill the patients that paid him. His motive? Money. You do not make money by "murdering" your customers.

This cynical and hypocritical action on the part of the AG misses the real villains:  Our government's war on drugs has done more harm than good. If the AG wanted to act tough on drugs he could go after the people who supply the really big killers, alcohol and tobacco.

Keller's patients did not die from his prescribing too many pills. They died from taking too many pills. Unless Keller himself administered the overdoses, his patients controlled how much they ingested. His patients bear full responsibility for their own deaths. Keller did not murder them.

We need to remove from office government officials and legislators who continue to support harmful drug policy.