Thousand Oaks doctor, husband arrested in death of elderly patient

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (KABC) -- A Thousand Oaks doctor and her husband were arrested in connection to the death of an elderly patient who was given morphine.

Dr. Ellen Crowe, 54, and Paul McQuillan, 61, were taken into custody on Wednesday for multiple felonies.

Ventura County sheriff's detectives say 88-year-old Polly Duntley is a victim of the medical profession at its worst. They say the elderly woman received a medical house call last year on July 31 from someone who she thought was a doctor.

But instead, it was McQuillan, an unlicensed person who administered a lethal dose of drugs to her.

"She was administered some morphine, and unfortunately, because of this dose of medication, she did pass away," said Sgt. Denise Sliva of the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.

McQuillan had injected Duntley with the morphine, and then he left the residence to treat another patient in the neighborhood. A technician arrived to perform an ultrasound on Duntley, and when McQuillan returned as the ultrasound was being performed, he realized that Duntley no longer had a pulse.

Detectives say family members of the victim alerted authorities. In April, a pharmaceutical task force began investigating the death due to the morphine, Sliva said.

Crowe and McQuillan own and operate a business known as House Call Doctor from their personal residence in Thousand Oaks.

Detectives say while Crowe is a licensed doctor, her husband McQuillan is not. Despite that, they say she gave her husband the OK to make the house call and administer morphine to Duntley.

Investigators fear it's not the first time Crowe has sent her husband into homes to care for patients.

"I don't know how long they've been operating, but our concern is that they've been operating under these false pretenses for a while," Sliva said. "We want to reach out to the public and find out if there's anybody else out there that's received care from either Dr. Crowe ... (or) most importantly, her husband, Paul McQuillan."

McQuillan was booked for practicing medicine without a license and furnishing morphine. Crowe was booked for conspiracy to practice medicine without a license and conspiracy to furnish morphine.

Authorities say additional charges and enhancements of elder abuse, great bodily injury or death occurring in the commission of a felony and weapons violations are also possible.

They are both free on $50,000 bail each. They will be arraigned in Ventura County Superior Court on May 27.

The couple has not responded to a request for comment.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Ventura County Interagency Pharmaceutical Crimes Unit at (805) 383-8700.