The Los Angeles County district attorney's office declined Friday to press charges against several physicians, ending its investigation into allegations that they over-prescribed painkillers to actress Elizabeth Taylor. In a written report, the district attorney's office said the prescribing practices "fell below the accepted standard of medical practice," but added that the doctors "were also attempting to deal with her addiction through alternative means of therapy and treatment, and . . . their conduct was devoid of criminal intent." The report said one of the physicians repeatedly tried to persuade her to enter a rehabilitation clinic but "these efforts to intervene were strongly resisted by Ms. Taylor until October, 1988." Taylor, 58, acknowledged a 35-year addiction to sleeping pills and painkillers and has been treated for alcohol and drug abuse at the Betty Ford Clinic in Rancho Mirage.
The Los Angeles District Attorney's office has declined to press charges against several doctors who had allegedly over-prescribed painkillers for Elizabeth Taylor. The announcement came Friday as the investigation into the charges ended. The District Attorney's office said that the prescribing procedures fell below the accepted medical standard, but refused to charge the physicians with criminal intent. The report said that one doctor had repeatedly tried to convince Ms. Taylor to enter a rehabilitation center. Taylor rejected that, but eventually acknowledged a 35-year addiction to pills and alcohol, and entered the Betty Ford Clinic in Rancho Mirage.