OC mom indicted for allegedly poisoning husband's drinks with Drano, causing him stomach ulcers

A Mission Viejo dermatologist and mother of two was indicted by an Orange County Grand Jury on multiple felonies for allegedly poisoning her husband over several weeks by allegedly spiking his drinks with dangerous household chemicals, causing him stomach ulcers.

Yue "Emily" Yu, 45, of Irvine was indicted on three felony counts of poisoning and one felony count of domestic battery with corporal injury. She faces a maximum sentence of eight years and eight months if convicted on all counts. She is scheduled to be arraigned on April 18.

The grand jury indictment detailing the charges against Yu was unsealed Wednesday morning. The handing down of the indictment requires Yu to self-report to the Medical Board of California, which will determine whether she will be allowed to continue to practice medicine.

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In early April 2022, Yu’s husband, who is a radiologist, began noticing a strange taste in the tea he drinks every day. When the taste continued, he installed cameras in the family’s kitchen to see if he could capture any evidence of why his tea tasted strange.

On July 11, July 18, and July 25, 2022, video captured Yue Yu pouring a substance out of a bottle of liquid drain cleaner into her husband’s tea that was left on the counter. Her husband also collected samples of the tea and turned them over to the Irvine Police Department.

The samples were later turned over to the FBI for testing, which confirmed the substance was consistent with liquid drain cleaner.


Yu was arrested by Irvine police in August 2022 on suspicion of poisoning. She was released from custody after posting a $30,000 bond.

"Our homes should be where we feel the safest," said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. "Yet, a licensed medical professional capitalized on her husband’s daily rituals to torment her husband by systematically plying his tea with a Drano-like substance intending to cause him pain and suffering."

The couple was married in 2012 and has two children, a daughter and son.

In a previous statement to FOX News, David Wohl, Yu's Attorney, called the allegations "false" and said they are motivated by a recent divorce filing and child custody case between the couple.

"Ms. Emily Yu vehemently and unequivocally denies ever attempting to poison her husband or anyone else," he told Fox News Digital in a statement in August 2022. "As a well-respected physician, her goal as always been to help people and never to harm people. Accordingly, she also strongly denies her husband's claims of abusing him and their children emotionally and physically."