Nicole death: Indian-origin medic charged

Anna Nicole Smiths boyfriend and two of her doctors - one of Indian origin - were charged with repeatedly supplying the former Playboy...

Anna Nicole Smiths boyfriend and two of her doctors one of Indian origin were charged with repeatedly supplying the former Playboy centrefold with addictive prescription drugs since 2004,nearly three years before she died of an overdose,authorities said.

The offices of the California Attorney General and the Los Angeles county district attorney announced that Smiths boyfriend,attorney Howard Kevin Stern,40,and doctors Sandeep Kapoor,40,and Khristine Eroshevich,61,were charged with conspiring to commit the crimes of prescribing,administering and dispensing controlled substances to an addict and unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance.

These individuals furnished thousands of prescription pills to Anna Nicole Smith,often for no legitimate medical purpose, California Attorney General Jerry Brown said in a statement. There is ample evidence that Dr Eroshevich and Dr Kapoor violated their ethical obligations as physicians,while Stern funneled highly addictive drugs to Smith.

According to the Los Angeles County district attorneys office,the doctors were also charged with one count each of obtaining a prescription for opiates by fraud,deceit or misrepresentation,and were also charged each with obtaining a prescription for opiates by giving a false name or address.

Adam Braun,an attorney for Eroshevich,a licenced psychiatrist who practices in Anaheim and Los Angeles,acknowledged that the psychiatrist used false names on prescriptions for Smith but said the pseudonyms were necessary to protect her patient given the oppressive media coverage.