Physician pleads guilty to 274 felony counts

In pleading guilty Wednesday to hundreds of felony counts, a Coachella Valley-area physician acknowledged using other people's identities and other doctors' prescription pads to obtain thousands of highly addictive painkillers.

Dr. Lisa Michelle Barden, 41, admitted to 274 felony counts, but decided to go to trial on two other charges: filing a false workers' compensation report for $62,000 and filing a false police report.

The trial on those counts is set for Dec. 28 in Palm Springs, but testimony is unlikely to be taken until early January, after the holiday period, said John Hall of the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.