San Jose: alleged 'pill mill' doctor faces involuntary murder charge in overdose death

A doctor accused of involuntary murder and drug charges for allegedly running a "pill mill" out of her Los Gatos clinic plans to use expert testimony in her defense in Santa Clara County Superior Court, her attorney said.

Jasna Mrdjen, who is free on bail while facing 13 felony charges, stood in court this afternoon before Judge Philip H. Pennypacker, who acknowledged outstanding discovery issues and agreed to push a hearing to set a date for Mrdjen's preliminary examination to Feb. 12.

Mrdjen is facing 13 felony counts in connection with illegally prescribing powerful prescription drugs to patients, Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Dana Veazey said.

Prosecutors, who pressed 12 narcotics charges against Mrdjen in May, added a count of involuntary murder after a person she prescribed medicine to died of a drug overdose, Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Dana Veazey said.

The drugs Mrdjen is accused of prescribing include the narcotic pain relievers oxycotin and percocet, Veazey said.

Mrdjen, 69, holds a degree from the University of Zagreb in Croatia and graduated with a medical degree from Stanford University in 1977 after a residency there, according to the website healthgrades.com.

Mrdjen's defense lawyer Guyton Jinkerson told Pennypacker that he intends to use "expert witnesses and forensic accountants" to go over a computer hard drive that was

seized by a crime task force from the defendant's Los Gatos office at 14125 Capri Drive in May.

Pennypacker, with no objection from Veazey, granted Jinkerson's request that Mrdjen, who is on her own recognizance with supervision at an address in Campbell, retain the right to live at that residence.

Mrdjen, a Mountain View resident, was taken into custody on a $ 1 million warrant after the Santa Clara County Special Enforcement Team, law enforcement officers from multiple jurisdictions who target narcotics-related crimes, raided her clinic on May 11, according to the district attorney's office.

The narcotics counts she faces include conspiring to sell controlled substances by excessively prescribing drugs to patients for resale and prescribing controlled substances to an addict, according to the district attorney's office.

Some of Mrdjen's patients allegedly resold prescription drugs they obtained through the doctor, prosecutors said.

Copyright © 2012 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, re-transmission or reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.

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