Ex-Virginia doctor sent to prison for illegal prescriptions

ROANOKE, Va. — Officials say a former Virginia doctor has been sentenced to three years in prison for writing prescriptions that mixed powerful painkillers into narcotic cocktails that killed at least four of her patients.

The Roanoke Times reports 70-year-old Verna M. Lewis pleaded guilty last year to dispensing controlled substances — oxycodone, morphine and hyrdomorphone — without a legitimate medical purpose. As part of her sentence, Lewis was fined $10,000 and agreed never to practice medicine again.

Lewis, who was sentenced on Monday, called the case “one of my deepest regrets.”

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