PORTLAND, Ore. — The parents of an Oregon teenager who died from an overdose have filed a $1.3 million wrongful death lawsuit against a clinic that they say prescribed “grossly excessive” amounts of opiates and other medications.
Jack and Teresa Daggett of suburban Portland said they were appalled to learn that pharmacies and other entities had filed 41 complaints against the Payette Clinic of Vancouver, Wash., since 2006.
“The pills are being handed out like candy, evidently, and they’re being sold on the streets,” Teresa Daggett said. “We just don’t want to see this happen to any other family.”
Rachel Daggett, 18, of Damascus, Ore., died Dec. 9 after smoking a 30-milligram pill of the synthetic narcotic at a friend’s home.
Gresham, Ore., police and federal investigators traced the pill to two brothers living in Troutdale — Ronald Zaloznik, who had a prescription for oxycodone, and his younger brother, Tyler Zaloznik, 18, who sold the pills to pay living expenses for the two.
The older brother told authorities he became addicted to oxycodone and wound up taking more than 1,000 milligrams daily after obtaining a prescription from a nurse practitioner Penny Steers to ease back and neck pain. The younger brother told police that he had used pills and opiates daily for a year.
According to the lawsuit filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court, the clinic prescribed oxycodone to the older brother “in conscious disregard of the risks.”
Clinic co-owners Scott Pecora and Kelly Bell did not return calls to The Oregonian newspaper for comment.
The Zalozniks and Shane Douglas Gill, 18, a friend of Rachel Daggett who helped put her in contact with the two brothers, pleaded guilty in March to delivery and possession of controlled substances. Ronald Zaloznik was sentenced to 2 ½ years in prison and the other two face 1 ½-year sentences.
The clinic was raided on March 19 by the Drug Enforcement Administration, which obtained a warrant to audit records. Soon afterward, Bell and Steers voluntarily surrendered their federal licenses to prescribe controlled substances.
Bell also has been accused by the Washington state Department of Health of putting patients at risk of serious physical harm or death by allowing extremely high doses of narcotics for treatment of chronic pain. A hearing on whether she can keep her nursing license is set for December.
Rachel Daggett was a senior at Sam Barlow High School in Gresham when she died.
“My goal is to shut them down,” Jack Daggett said of the clinic. “Deep in my soul, I realized if it wasn’t for the clinic, my daughter would still be here.”
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