Murder charge against doctor to be dropped, memo shows

Clark County prosecutors have decided to dismiss the case against a doctor charged with murder for overprescribing drugs to a patient.

In a memo obtained by the Review-Journal, prosecutor David Stanton wrote that based on the evidence in the case, he could not prove Dr. Richard Sy Teh killed Lisa Blythe.

Teh was arrested in March because authorities thought Blythe’s death was related to his prescribing massive amounts of narcotics, including Demerol, Oxycontin and Valium, from February 2001 to February 2006 to combat chronic pain.

The Clark County coroner’s office originally ruled Blythe, 39, died in January 2007 from multiple drug intoxication but later changed the cause of death to a respiratory infection known as sepsis caused by pneumonia.

A toxicology screening also showed the level of prescription drugs in Blythe’s system were very low at the time of her death and she had been using several substances that Teh did not prescribe for her.

A lab report also showed Blythe tested positive for pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacteria, which, with a low white blood cell count, created a lethal combination, according to the memo.

“The evidence does not suggest that the prescription medication she was using, at the time of her death, caused these conditions,” the memo said.

Stanton also said in the memo that before Blythe’s death, Teh had diagnosed the patient with a respiratory infection and prescribed medication to treat it, but the prescription was never filled.

Teh’s attorney, Mace Yampolsky, said his client is “extremely happy” with the prosecution’s decision. Yampolsky said he hopes the case will be dismissed within the coming weeks.

A status check in the case is set for Sept. 28 before Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Deborah Lippis.

Blythe’s husband, Stuart Wilhoite, told the Review-Journal he understands why the district attorney’s office has decided to dismiss the case but remains frustrated that Teh still has an active license to practice medicine.

The Nevada Board of Medical Examiners has never formally charged Teh, according to its website. The physician remains a practicing internist for Sun City Medical Group in northwest Las Vegas, the board’s website showed.

In 2009, Wilhoite received a $400,000 civil settlement for Teh’s “failure to properly monitor the patient’s narcotic drug use” resulting in overdose and death.

According to the Board of Medical Examiners, Teh received his medical degree in 1987 from Far Eastern University in the Philippines. He completed his residency in Illinois at Cook County Hospital in 1993 and his fellowship in 1994. He was licensed in Nevada in 1997.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.