Who is Sarah Hopkins-Hubbard? Tammy Harris' daughter claims Dr Jeffrey Harris gave mom so many painkillers 'she started seeing frogs' before death
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: Sarah Hopkins-Hubbard, the daughter of Tammy Harris, a 55-year-old woman who died in 2018 due to a fatal overdose of the dietary supplement Selenium, recently testified against her stepfather Dr Jeffrey Harris, who is charged for Tammy's murder.
On Thursday, September 27, Sarah shared her testimony in a Manhattan court and accused Dr Jeffrey of giving Tammy so many painkillers that she began hallucinating frogs crawling across her bedroom walls, the New York Post reported.
"There was one night where Jeff had given mom so much pain medication that she started seeing frogs jumping on her walls in the bedroom," Sarah alleged.
Prosecutors claimed that Dr Jeffrey, who specialized in internal medicine, refused to believe the results when numerous doctors diagnosed Tammy with lupus.
The former reportedly began treating Tammy himself, which allegedly led to her death in 2018.
Sarah Hopkins-Hubbard's testimony
Sarah, a 41-year-old woman who currently lives in Oregon, is Tammy's daughter from her previous marriage before she tied the knot with Dr Jeffrey.
She recently testified against her stepfather and detailed how her late mother's health deteriorated prior to her death.
Sarah said Dr Jeffrey refused to provide Tammy with proper treatment and continued to follow homeopathic remedies.
"Mom had been yellow and turning orange for about three weeks. The yellowing-orange color was just getting worse," Sarah shared.
She also mentioned that Tammy only weighed around 100 pounds after losing an alarming amount of weight and recalled that her mother's gums "were starting to turn black."
Sarah alleged that despite her mother's worsening health condition, Dr Jeffrey believed that a hospital could not take proper care of his wife and instead allegedly put Tammy on a treatment of 20 cilantro pills per day, among other drugs.
"You couldn’t count how many pills [I was administering her]," Sarah told the jury. She also said that she was baffled by her stepfather's behavior.
"I’m obviously concerned. He’s a doctor — and I’m living with them," Sarah mentioned.
"And you come up to him like, 'Why would you give her so much that she would hallucinate?' Like, knowing you’re a doctor and knowing how much to prescribe when it becomes dangerous. I just don’t understand," she added.
Doctor gave wife so many painkillers she ‘started seeing frogs’ before poisoning death: testimony https://t.co/Gnm3DtrNaX pic.twitter.com/kUSoENBN2M
— New York Post Metro (@nypmetro) September 28, 2023
What did Dr Jeffrey Harris do?
Dr Jeffrey and Tammy were reportedly married for 11 years before the latter died a "tremendously painful" death in 2018.
That same year, the couple traveled to New York City from Idaho, seeking treatment for Tammy's lupus.
The duo reportedly found a group called the Salerno Center, who advised against the dosage of Selenium, a dietary supplement Dr Jeffrey was using on Tammy.
Although Selenium is safe when taken in small doses, it can cause hair loss, kidney failure and even death in case of increased dose.
During the trip, Tammy reportedly fell unconscious at the Lotte New York Palace hotel, where the couple was staying, prompting Dr Jeffrey to rush her to the hospital.
She died six days later on February 28, 2018. The death was ruled a homicide in 2019 after the Medical Examiner’s Office found 10 times the recommended dosage of Selenium in her system.
At the time, assistant District Attorney Victoria Meyer said that Tammy's condition was "not something you typically see in wealthier nations."
It was later revealed that Tammy's slow death began in 2017 when Dr Jeffrey started her "alternative" medicine, which "worsened her health problems," Meyer said, as per the Daily Mail.
Officials alleged that Dr Jeffrey administered the medications on his wife against the advice of other doctors and hospital staff.
"He insisted that her true affliction was mercury poisoning due to having worked at a dental office several years prior," Meyer revealed.
Prosecutors alleged that Dr Jeffrey "sneaked in alternative medication" and "cheated doctors" by pretending that his wife was taking what she had been prescribed.
When doctors had a hunch about the situation they allegedly told Harris to "be a husband" rather than her doctor.
Dr Jeffrey was charged in the poisoning death of his wife and indicted on a count of manslaughter in the second degree in November 2021.
Prosecutors alleged that Tammy’s condition was completely treatable but Dr Jeffrey "recklessly caused" her death through his own medication and treatment.
Dr Jeffrey previously pleaded not guilty and is currently on trial for the death of Tammy.