Utah Court Tosses $3M Verdict in Prescription Drug Overdose Suit

The Utah Supreme Court has overturned a $3 million verdict in a wrongful death suit against a doctor accused of prescribing a lethal amount of prescription drugs.

The Salt Lake Tribune reported that the high court ruled this week the jury shouldn’t have heard evidence of doctor Paul Ray Taylor’s federal conviction on criminal charges connected to writing illegal prescriptions.

He was accused in a lawsuit of giving patient Brad Robinson too much methadone before Robinson’s 2006 overdose death. The former family practice doctor from Layton maintained that he warned Robinson not to take too much.

Taylor pleaded guilty in an unrelated case alleging he gave prescriptions for cash in a parking lot and was serving time in federal prison when the case was decided.