A Fountain Valley doctor who was sentenced in September to six years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of illegally prescribing drugs, has surrendered his license to practice medicine.
An order issued by the California Medical Board accepted Dr. Victor Boon Huat Siew’s surrender of his physician’s and surgeon’s certificate, which means Siew won’t be able to practice medicine. Doctors must wait three years after losing their licenses to reapply, although settlement agreements may allow them to seek reinstatement after two.
Siew, 66, of Laguna Beach, admitted to illegally prescribing oxycodone, methadone and alprazolam from his clinic from 2009 through 2015.
Prosecutors alleged that Siew and his assistant, Kaitlyn Phuong Nguyen, prescribed drugs without a medical need in exchange for cash and insurance payments, even though many of the patients had “red flags” in their files indicating that they were abusing the drugs.
During trial, jurors heard evidence that four people had died of drug overdoses after receiving prescriptions from Nguyen.
Staff writer Kelly Puente contributed to this report.