AG: MWC Doctor Accused Of Murder Will Go To Trial

A Midwest City doctor will go to trial after being accused of five counts of second-degree murder, the attorney general's office said.

Dr. Regan Nichols was charged in connection with the deaths of at least five of her patients while she was working as an osteopathic physician at a Midwest City clinic.

During a preliminary hearing, a judge heard from seven witnesses, including agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and the state medical examiner's office. Judge Mark McCormick ruled there was enough probable evidence to continue the case to trial, the attorney general's office said.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Nichols prescribed controlled dangerous substances to patients without a legitimate medical need, in quantities and circumstances that are considered an extreme disregard for human life.

Investigators found the five individuals who died were prescribed more than 1,800 opioid pills in the same months as their deaths.

“A doctor who prescribes patients with thousands of addictive and dangerous opioids outside of a legitimate medical need is a drug dealer,” Attorney General Hunter said. “We are going to hold doctors, like Nichols, accountable for abusing their prescribing authority and the consequent deaths of their patients. We are confident in our case and will bring justice to the loved ones of the victims who lost their lives due to Nichols’ reckless prescribing.”