Imprisoned doctor owes millions more
A woman who suffered kidney damage and a man who lost his wife both won millions in damages against a doctor already serving prison time.
They aren’t the first victims awarded substantial sums through court actions against William Martin Valuck, and it’s unlikely they’ll receive much money.
Valuck, 75, pleaded guilty in August 2014 to eight counts of seconddegree murder in connection with the deaths of patients to whom he prescribed large numbers of opioids and other addictive pills. He is serving an eight-year sentence at the minimum-security Jackie Brannon Correctional Center in McAlester.
During his murder trial, Valuck said he was nearly broke and still owed $375,000 in restitution from a money laundering and wire fraud conviction in 2000. He served five years in federal prison in that case.
Most of the civil judgments have been awarded to parents, spouses and other surviving relatives of people who died after receiving prescriptions from Valuck. In August, a living patient was awarded more than $23.8 million for kidney damage and other health problems she suffered because of alleged improper prescribing.
Shelli Livsey, of Norman, went to see Valuck about shoulder pain in 2012, according to court documents. At the time, she told him she had a history of kidney trouble. Valuck prescribed two drugs that can injure the kidneys, as well as a dangerous trio of opioids, benzodiazepines and sleeping pills — all of which can impair breathing and cause an overdose.
Dr. David Williams, a kidney specialist, testified that the drugs Valuck prescribed damaged Livsey’s kidneys, causing her to start dialysis about 10 years earlier than she otherwise might have needed to. She is waiting for a kidney transplant.
Livsey, 44, was the third victim to win a lawsuit against Valuck this year.
Oklahoma County District Court Judge Lisa Tipping awarded $2 million in July to Jason Robert Pretzer, whose wife, Victoria Lynn Pretzer, died of an overdose after receiving an opioid prescription from Valuck.
Mary Degiusti won a $20 million judgment against Valuck in May. Her daughter, Jennifer Zimmerman, had died of an overdose the day after Valuck prescribed her 450 pain pills to one month, or 15 pills a day.
Valuck had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in both Zimmerman’s and Victoria Pretzer’s deaths in August 2014.