A driver who allegedly slammed into two teens, killing them, was taking three prescription drugs at the time, a preliminary toxicology report given to Denver police shows.
Dr. Daniel Teitelbaum, a veteran Denver toxicologist, said a copy of the report shown to him by KCNC-Channel 4 revealed that a drug-screen test on Sandra Maul, 64, showed that at the time of the Nov. 17 crash she was on a generic form of Prozac, an anti-depressant; a muscle relaxant; and a powerful painkiller.
But Teitelbaum said that the drugs may not have affected Maul’s driving ability, depending on how long she was taking the medication and how high the doses were, neither of which was addressed in the report.
“It might have had an impact (on Maul), but … I would say it is improbable unless she took either very large doses, had recently been started on the medications or there was some other peculiar thing going on,” Teitelbaum said.
He said he disagreed with a conclusion by a state official that the prescription drugs would likely have impaired a driver’s ability.
“That was based on a preliminary workup which I, as a toxicologist, would not have said that,” the doctor said. “It possibly would have, but to say probably without knowing the amounts taken, the concentration in the blood and urine … is not really an appropriate thing.”
Teitelbaum said that the drugs are usually prescribed for individuals suffering from anxiety and depression.
KCNC first reported the findings on its website Tuesday.
Maul was released from custody on Tuesday after being hospitalized, officials said.
She was arrested Nov. 17 after she lost control of her car and it hit Jesse Aguirre and Nhan Nguyen, both 14, as they walked on a sidewalk along South Federal Boulevard, police said.
Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the Denver district attorney’s office, said that because the office did not file formal charges against Maul within 72 hours, her $250,000 bond reverted to a personal-recognizance bond, which allowed her to go free.
Kimbrough said that the district attorney’s office has asked detectives to do more work on the case, specifically to find out more about Maul, her health at the time of the crash, her medical information and results of various tests.
