Starbucks Rx: Doctor Admits Prescribing Painkillers Illegally

A Mission Viejo doctor has admitted to illegally prescribing the equivalent of more than 30,000 maximum-strength painkiller pills in one year, along with other drugs.

Dr. Alvin Mingczech Yee, 44, signed a federal plea agreement April 1 admitting guilt on seven counts of illegally distributing controlled substances.

Under the deal, Yee will spend eight to 10 years in prison and pay fines and restitution still to be determined by the court. By admitting guilt, Yee avoids a maximum sentence of 95 years and a fine of $4.75 million.

Yee admitted to prescribing 5,000 grams of oxycodone, 50 grams of amphetamine salts and 10,000 units of alprazolam to patients from Aug. 24, 2010, to Aug. 23, 2011.

He didn't know two of his patients were undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agents and two more were federal informants.

One of the prescriptions led to the overdose death of a Huntington Beach 21-year-old Huntington Beach, the OC Weekly reports.

Yee wrote prescriptions at Starbucks coffeeshops throughout Orange County, according to an earlier Patch report.

Some patients traveled from Seattle, Phoenix and Detroit to get prescriptions, according to Thom Mrozek of the U.S. Attorney's Office, who said one-third of the doctor's clientele was 25 years old or younger.

Yee's state medical license expired last year. He had been trained at the USC Keck School of Medicine, state records say.