Pubdate: Fri, 09 Sep 2005
Source: Press Democrat, The (Santa Rosa, CA)
Copyright: 2005 The Press Democrat
Contact:  http://www.pressdemo.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/348
Author: Mike Geniella

UKIAH DOCTORS SUED OVER TEEN'S DRUG DEATH

Lawsuit Against County Health Officer, Spouse Says Son Supplied Painkiller 
To Friend

A wrongful-death lawsuit claims Mendocino County's public health officer 
and his physician wife failed to safeguard drugs at home that are linked to 
the 2003 overdose death of a Ukiah High School student.

The suit was filed against Dr. Marvin Trotter, Dr. Mary Newkirk and their 
son, Evan Trotter, by the mother of 16-year-old Keith McCallum.

The lawsuit claims McCallum was sold the lethal drug by Evan Trotter, who 
had taken it from a supply kept by his parents at the family's Redwood 
Valley home.

Vicki Nelson said that when she found her dead son in his bed the morning 
of Sept. 13, he was wearing a transdermal patch containing the pain-killing 
drug fentanyl. An autopsy found the cause of McCallum's death to be "acute 
cardiac failure due to fentanyl toxicity."

Fentanyl is at least 80 times stronger than morphine, and is typically 
prescribed by doctors to ease chronic pain. Federal drug authorities say 
for at least 20 years fentanyl also has been widely abused by heroin 
addicts and other drug users. In July, the U.S. Food and Drug 
Administration launched an investigation into deaths related to fentanyl 
overdoses.

The Trotters were aware of the drug's danger, but they failed to ensure the 
security of the potentially fatal patches, the suit says.

Evan Trotter, who is now 18, was tried in Juvenile Court on drug-related 
charges stemming from McCallum's death. Trotter was ordered to enroll in a 
drug-rehabilitation program and was placed on two years of probation after 
being found responsible for transporting and selling the fentanyl patch to 
friend McCallum.

Neither Evan Trotter nor his parents could be reached for comment on the 
Nelson lawsuit and its allegations, despite repeated attempts over two days.

Vicki Nelson said Thursday she was relieved that the "truth is finally 
coming out." She declined to elaborate on allegations in the lawsuit. 
Nelson's attorney, Barry Wester of Petaluma, didn't return telephone calls.

McCallum's death rocked Ukiah High School less than two weeks after 
students returned to campus in September 2003. On the day he was found 
dead, the popular student was to have played in the high school football 
season's opening junior varsity game. A few days later, hundreds of stunned 
students, many weeping openly, jammed funeral services in McCallum's honor.

Evan Trotter was a close friend of McCallum and equally well-known at the 
high school. Like his older sister, nationally recognized track star Amber 
Trotter, Evan Trotter was on the high school's track team.

Marvin Trotter is active in community affairs, including being a driving 
force behind the new Ukiah Valley Cultural and Recreation Center for area 
youth.

The Nelson lawsuit claims Marvin Trotter regularly wrote prescriptions for 
the fentanyl patches for use by his elderly mother in Texas.

The suit accuses Trotter of allowing easy access to the drug "around and in 
the Trotter family home, and/or vehicles."

Further, the suit alleges that in early 2003, Trotter became aware of 
missing fentanyl patches from the home supply. Several weeks before 
McCallum's death, more patches were missing, according to the lawsuit.

The suit contends neither Trotter nor his wife reported the missing drug to 
authorities.

The night before McCallum's death, Evan Trotter provided his friend with a 
patch and told him it "would get him high," the lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from the Trotters, citing their 
alleged negligence in failing to keep the drug out of their son's hands.

The state Business and Professional Code requires that prescribers of 
restricted drugs "shall store all drugs to be dispensed in an area that is 
secure."

In addition, the lawsuit alleged the Trotters "knew that their son, Evan, 
was a drug user and suspected previously that he had purloined fentanyl 
from the family home and/or vehicles."
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