NYC Doctor Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter in Overdose Deaths

What to Know

Doctor who ran a clinic in Queens has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and other charges in prescription drug overdose deaths of 3 patients
NYC prosecutor announced that Lawrence Choy pleaded guilty on Tuesday to 34 felony counts including two counts of manslaughter
Choy will be sentenced on Sept. 10. He is expected to be sentenced to seven years in prison

A doctor who ran a clinic in Queens has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and other charges in the prescription drug overdose deaths of three patients.

New York City's special narcotics prosecutor announced that Lawrence Choy pleaded guilty on Tuesday to 34 felony counts including two counts of second-degree manslaughter.

Prosecutors said Choy issued prescriptions for dangerous levels of narcotics including the painkiller oxycodone in high-risk combinations with other controlled substances. They say patients came from as far away as Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Three patients died between 2013 and 2016.

Authorities say Choy abruptly closed his Flushing, Queens, medical practice in 2017 after he was visited by investigators and moved to Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

Agents from the DEA’s Milwaukee District Office arrested Choy, who was an internist and nephrologist, on March 29, 2018 at his residence in Wisconsin.