A trial court should have granted a motion to dismiss a wrongful death suit against a physician who gave drugs to a painkiller addict who was later convicted of murdering four people during a pharmacy robbery, the Appellate Division, Second Department, ruled.

In 2011, David Laffer killed four people during a robbery of Haven Drugs in Medford, from which he fled with thousands of pills. He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and robbery and is serving four consecutive life sentences.