The lawsuits continue to pile up against William Valuck, a former Oklahoma physician convicted of murder following the overdose deaths of several patients.
Dr. William Valuck was arrested nearly two years ago, in late December 2013. He was accused of being one of the state's top prescribers of narcotic painkillers,issuing so many prescriptions for drugs that many Oklahoma City pharmacies began refusing to fill his orders. After several of his patients died ofdrug overdose within days of his issuing large prescriptions for painkillers, Valuck was charged with first degree murder in their deaths.
Initially, the doctor was charged with 81 criminal counts, including nine counts of first degree murder and dozens of counts involving illegal drug distribution.The nine murder charges came from the overdose deaths of eight patients and from one traffic fatality after one of Valuck's patients caused an accidentwhile under the influence of drugs. The DUI fatality was dropped because of insufficient evidence that Valuck was directly responsible for the man'sdeath. The eight remaining murder charges were amended to second degree murder, and all of the drug distribution charges were dismissed in exchangefor Valuck's guilty plea to eight counts of second degree murder.
Second degree murder is punishable by a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison. Many people were shocked when Valuck, then 72, was sentenced to only eightyears in prison with two years suspended, calling eight years for eight deaths far too lenient. However, prosecutors noted Valuck's age and ill healthand said that under the circumstances, eight years will likely be a life sentence.
Although family members of Valuck's patients may have felt that the sentence was too light, they are finding justice another way, by filing medical malpracticeand wrongful death lawsuits against William Valuck and his former partner, Michael Edward Hume.
The first lawsuit was filed in February 2014, less than two months after Valuck's arrest. Two more lawsuits were filed in August and October of that year.Nine more lawsuits have been filed against the Valuck, his former businesses, and his former partner this year, with the most recent four cases filedin November and early December.
While many of the lawsuits are filed by surviving family members of patients who overdosed on painkillers prescribed by Dr. Valuck, some are filed by survivingpatients who say that Valuck's medical negligence is responsible for their addiction to painkillers. These lawsuits cite Valuck's failure to performany diagnostic tests or to note a patient's history of addictive behaviors. Instead, they say he prescribed upwards of 500 pills at a time, causingcontinued drug dependence and "bad judgment" that interfered with "ordinary life responsibilities."
At the time of his conviction, Valuck was convicted of the most homicides in Oklahoma since Timothy McVeigh was convicted of the 1995 bombing of the AlfredP. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
