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A Utah physician was charged Friday with second-degree felony manslaughter for allegedly causing the death of her husband two years ago by prescribing him drugs and giving him alcohol — which proved to be a fatal combination.
Ina Judith Amber, 63, also was charged in 3rd District Court with second-degree felony aggravated abuse of a vulnerable adult in connection with the September 2014 death of 54-year-old Rustin Orr at the couple's Cottonwood Heights home.
Amber — an infectious disease specialist with offices in the Millcreek area — called 911 in the early hours of Sept. 11, 2014, to report Orr's death.
An autopsy later determined the cause of his death to be a combination of alcohol and Librium — a drug intended for short-term use by alcoholics to lessen the more severe symptoms of de-toxing, charges state.
The risks of combining Librium and alcohol, according to a medical expert quoted in charging documents, are respiratory depression and fatal arrhythmia.
Investigators found that Amber had authored 17 prescriptions of Librium for Orr from October 2013 to Sept. 5, 2014.
Amber admitted she was daily providing her husband with a mixture of vodka and Gatorade, charges state. She said he consumed a fifth of vodka every day, along with beer, charges state.
She acknowledged the danger of combining alcohol and Librium, but continued supplying Orr with both, charges state.
Amber said she had been Orr's sole physician and prescribing doctor for the past 15 years, and had previously diagnosed him with heart arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation and sleep apnea.
Amber also told police that Orr was "controlling," and that he refused to get a divorce or move out of their home, charges state.
Orr told a friend in June, three months before his death, that Amber was over-medicating him, charges state. Orr, at the time, was unable to get out of bed and was "nearly incoherent," the friend told investigators.
Amber said in a statement released by her attorney Stephen Owens, that she disputes the charges.
"Dr. Amber has been serving her patients for 37 years," the statement says. "She is a caring and compassionate physician. She disputes the charges against her."
The Utah Division of Occupational & Professional Licensing website shows Amber is licensed and in good standing, with no disciplinary actions taken against her at least back to 2005.
Amber is being notified through a summons that an initial court appearance in the homicide case has been set for June 17.