Jacksonville.com
The Trial of Dr. Chua
Chua, 45, has been held in the Camden County jail since September 2006 when he was arrested and charged with the drug overdose death of Jamie Carter III. Prosecutors say Carter, 20, died from drugs Chua prescribed for no legitimate medical purpose.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Chau failed to follow code of conduct, doctor testifies

The fourth day of the trial of St. Marys physician Noel Chua began with testimony by Dr. George Grubb, an internal medicine specialist with the Southeast Georgia Health System in Brunswick.

Grubb explained the process to evaluate a patient for diagnosis and treatment, including a list of medications taken.

Grubb was asked to evaluate Jamie Carter's medical charts and explain any abnormalities for jurors.

The past history on Carter's medical charts written by Chua is abbreviated, he said, especially considering Carter's records indicated he did not want to be labeled a "drug seeker." .

The prescription log showing the drugs Chua prescribed to Carter in the months before his overdose death in the doctor's St. Marys home indicate some of the pain medications prescribed to Carter "were not a prudent thing to do."

"I think it's excessive," he said of the medications to treat Carter's headaches.

He also expressed concern about another doctor's records from another doctor who noted Carter claimed he lost a prescription for narcotic pain killers and asked for a refill. That fact should have caused concern for any doctor reading the records because if could indicate a possible drug abuse problem, he said.

Grubb said he would have been concerned Carter was a "drug seeker" if he was treating him as a patient, based on other physician's evaluations in the records and a drug test showing Carter had used cocaine.

Somebody using cocaine should not be prescribed any addictive substances, he told jurors.

Grubb said Chua's treatment of Carter violated the code of ethics for physicians.

"I would have had a dialogue [with Carter] seeking alternative treatment," he testified.

Chua's records for Carter failed to mention some of the narcotic medications prescribed or his history of headaches and his response to the prescribed medications.

Grubb said Chua failed to note in his charts that Carter had failed a test for illicit drug use, when it was noted in another doctor's records for the patient.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't say that Chua murdered Jamie with premeditation, but he is at the very least guilty of negligent homicide.

Anonymous said...

You are certainly correct.

explosive monkey said...

He is not charged with murder. He is charged with felony murder, which means he committed a felony which led to someones death.

Anonymous said...

then wheres the argument for case here - that has an obvious answer

Anonymous said...

When I said "negligent" homicide above, I meant that by the very act of leaving him alone "to sleep it off" in the condition he was in, shows that he was negligent as a doctor because he should have known that Jamie was on drugs and his symptoms were indicative of an overdose. By doing nothing, he allowed him to die.

Anonymous said...

I agree...Who knows what went on between these 2 men that Chua didn't want known.

Anonymous said...

Just a few things here. First for the blog. The paper must be leaving notes out; important ones too. It mentions in doctor's notes Jamie mentioning he lost pain pills and wanted more. It never states whether the doctor gave him more. If he did, I guess it would be normal and Dr Chua would be okay. If he didn't give him more, I still don't see how the Good Dr would be wrong. If it only happened once, because it doesn't state it was multiple times, how does that become a drug problem. God forbid we lose something. I just hope writers are including both sides. For the posters here. I am sure you are not a doctor yourself. what does an overdose look like and does every doctor know? Also, by leaving him home alone, would any doctor think that somone would inject, not swallow, more drugs? Just a few questions to ask yourself.

Anonymous said...

Remember Dr. Chua had a medical practice to run. Unfortunately he wasn't a babysitter.

Anonymous said...

Dr Chua and jamie carter live together in the same house....share the same bed and very obviously HAD A HOMOSEXUAL RELATIONSHIP...he had one with a 16 year old patient...obviously he is feeding him addicting drugs TO KEEP HIM...TO BE DEPENDENT ON HIM AND HIS DRUG PRESCRIPTION...DR CHUA IS OBSSESSED WITH HIM...to the point of even trusting him to LIVE IN HIS OWN HOUSE!!!!....plain and simple

Anonymous said...

Well said.