Fil-Am doctor in illegal prescriptions scandal released after serving halved jail term

Filipino-American physician Dr. Carlos Estiandan has been released after serving half of his five-year prison sentence after being found guilty of 13 felony counts of illegally prescribing controlled substances. According to a report of the news site Asian Journal, Estiandan was a retired colonel of the US Air Force Reserve. Four government agencies were involved in his case: the Medical Board of California, the Los Angeles County Sheriff, the US Drug Enforcement Agency, and Medi-Cal. In the four-year period that his case was being investigated, eight of his patients died from drug overdose and related causes. Estiandan said in the report that he was ‘unfairly targeted’ by prosecutors for ‘simply doing his job.'  However, he later admitted to poor judgment, saying "instead of helping them, I might have harmed them.” Estiandan was first investigated in October 2004 when Robin Hollins, a medical board investigator, received a tip that the physician was earning $3,000 per day for drug perscriptions. Hollins reported that Estiandan allegedly gave patients "anything they want." One of the doctor's employees also noted Estiandan's clinic was frequented by so-called "drug-addicted patients." On September 12, 2007, Hollins informed Estiandan that a patient's death was caused by his prescriptions. An expert physician confirmed that Estiandan's malpractice led to the death of the patient. Estiandan was arrested in his residence on July 23, 2008. His medical license was forfeited in September 2009. - Andrei Medina, VVP, GMA News