Malignant (Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode)
Encyclopedia
Malignant is a second season episode of the television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent
.
and Eames
to discover a long-running case of drug tampering.
While investigating the murders, Goren and Eames change the focus of their investigation to a pharmacist, Jim Halliwell, who may be tampering with life-saving, cancer
-fighting drugs needed by hundreds of patients, as many of the victims died despite positive survival prognoses from their personal doctors.
The detectives are unable to prove their suspicions until the exhumations of possible victims reveal evidence of an assisted suicide
by an elderly husband, Frank Lowell, who reluctantly acted at his wife's request to end her suffering.
Jim Halliwell is selling far more chemotherapy
drugs than he is actually buying. The discrepancy is because he is diluting the chemotherapy drugs to fill many more prescriptions, but still charging the full price for each prescription. The extra fraudulent profit he is making is being used to fund his church donations — medication discounts for church — affiliated nursing home residents and a $1.5 million pledge for a church recreation center. Generous church donations are the means to achieve the respect and admiration from the community that Jim and Penny Halliwell seek. In recognition of their donations, their Church has promoted them to "Church Elder" - pillars of the community. To encourage donations, Rev. Norman Mills has no qualms in using shame to compel churchgoer donations.
In the end, as Halliwell and his wife are exiting a church service, in the presence of the Reverend and the other churchgoers, the detectives publicly confront him about the assisted suicide and the diluted chemo drugs and arrest him. Jim Halliwell later reveals to Carver
that he tampered with more than 26,000 prescriptions involving 1200 patients.
, who over a period of about nine years diluted an estimated 98,000 prescriptions of medications, affecting more than 4,200 patients, including many cancer patients who died after receiving intentionally diluted prescription of chemotherapy
from him.
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama...
.
Plot summary
In this episode, the murders of two deliverymen during a robbery lead Detectives GorenRobert Goren
Det. Robert "Bobby" Goren is a fictional character featured in the NBC-USA Network police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent, portrayed by Vincent D'Onofrio....
and Eames
Alexandra Eames
Det. Alexandra "Alex" Eames is a fictional police detective with the NYPD Major Case Squad featured in the NBC-USA Network Law & Order: Criminal Intent, portrayed by Kathryn Erbe...
to discover a long-running case of drug tampering.
While investigating the murders, Goren and Eames change the focus of their investigation to a pharmacist, Jim Halliwell, who may be tampering with life-saving, cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
-fighting drugs needed by hundreds of patients, as many of the victims died despite positive survival prognoses from their personal doctors.
The detectives are unable to prove their suspicions until the exhumations of possible victims reveal evidence of an assisted suicide
Assisted suicide
Assisted suicide is the common term for actions by which an individual helps another person voluntarily bring about his or her own death. "Assistance" may mean providing one with the means to end one's own life, but may extend to other actions. It differs to euthanasia where another person ends...
by an elderly husband, Frank Lowell, who reluctantly acted at his wife's request to end her suffering.
Jim Halliwell is selling far more chemotherapy
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
drugs than he is actually buying. The discrepancy is because he is diluting the chemotherapy drugs to fill many more prescriptions, but still charging the full price for each prescription. The extra fraudulent profit he is making is being used to fund his church donations — medication discounts for church — affiliated nursing home residents and a $1.5 million pledge for a church recreation center. Generous church donations are the means to achieve the respect and admiration from the community that Jim and Penny Halliwell seek. In recognition of their donations, their Church has promoted them to "Church Elder" - pillars of the community. To encourage donations, Rev. Norman Mills has no qualms in using shame to compel churchgoer donations.
In the end, as Halliwell and his wife are exiting a church service, in the presence of the Reverend and the other churchgoers, the detectives publicly confront him about the assisted suicide and the diluted chemo drugs and arrest him. Jim Halliwell later reveals to Carver
Ron Carver
Ron Carver is a fictional character on the NBC-USA Network series, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, played by Courtney B. Vance.Carver often works in conjunction with detectives Robert Goren, Alexandra Eames, Mike Logan and Carolyn Barek of the Major Case Squad. He graduated from John Jay College of...
that he tampered with more than 26,000 prescriptions involving 1200 patients.
Cast
| Vincent D'Onofrio Vincent D'Onofrio Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio is an American actor, director, film producer, writer, and singer. Often referred to as an actor's actor, his work as a character actor has earned him the nickname of "Human Chameleon"... |
Det. Robert Goren Robert Goren Det. Robert "Bobby" Goren is a fictional character featured in the NBC-USA Network police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent, portrayed by Vincent D'Onofrio.... |
| Kathryn Erbe Kathryn Erbe Kathryn Elsbeth Erbe is an American actress known for her role as Det. Alexandra Eames in Law & Order: Criminal Intent, a spin-off of Law & Order, and death row inmate Shirley Bellinger in the HBO series Oz.-Personal life:... |
Det. Alexandra Eames Alexandra Eames Det. Alexandra "Alex" Eames is a fictional police detective with the NYPD Major Case Squad featured in the NBC-USA Network Law & Order: Criminal Intent, portrayed by Kathryn Erbe... |
| Jamey Sheridan Jamey Sheridan James Patrick "Jamey" Sheridan is an American actor. He was born in Pasadena, California.He has had a prolific acting career in theater, television, and feature film productions. Born to a family of actors, he made it to Broadway and earned a Tony nomination in 1987 for his performance in the... |
Capt. James Deakins James Deakins Captain James Deakins is a fictional character on the NBC-USA Network U.S. television series, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, played by Jamey Sheridan.On the show, Deakins supervises New York City's Major Case Squad... |
| Courtney B. Vance Courtney B. Vance Courtney Bernard Vance is an American actor. He was formerly a regular on the NBC/USA television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver. He was also a series regular on the ABC series FlashForward. As of 2011, he appears on the TNT series The Closer as Chief... |
A.D.A. Ron Carver Ron Carver Ron Carver is a fictional character on the NBC-USA Network series, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, played by Courtney B. Vance.Carver often works in conjunction with detectives Robert Goren, Alexandra Eames, Mike Logan and Carolyn Barek of the Major Case Squad. He graduated from John Jay College of... |
| Leslie Hendrix Leslie Hendrix Leslie Hendrix is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Elizabeth Rodgers on four Law & Order series... |
Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers |
Inspiration
This episode revealed many resemblances with the case of pharmacist Robert Ray CourtneyRobert Courtney
Robert Ray Courtney is a former pharmacist who owned and operated Research Medical Tower Pharmacy in Kansas City, Missouri. In 2002 he was convicted of pharmaceutical fraud and sentenced to federal prison.-Early life and education:...
, who over a period of about nine years diluted an estimated 98,000 prescriptions of medications, affecting more than 4,200 patients, including many cancer patients who died after receiving intentionally diluted prescription of chemotherapy
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
from him.