Oklahoma City doctor William Valuck in the courtroom in August 2014 after pleading guilty to murder. Valuck was ordered Wednesday to pay $20 million to the family of one of his patients who died of an overdose. [Oklahoman Archives Photo]

Oklahoma City — Mary Degiusti knows she may never get even a fraction of the $20 million judgment she won against the doctor who prescribed her daughter enough pills to cause a fatal overdose.

But she hopes the threat of such a large payout while frighten other unscrupulous prescribers — and force Dr. William Valuck to remember her daughter and her grandson, who lost his mother.

“I just hope that no family has to go through this, that every doctor will think before doing something like this,” she said.

William Martin Valuck, 76, pleaded guilty to eight counts of second-degree murder in August 2014. He was sentenced to eight years, and is housed at the Jackie Brannon Correctional Center, a minimum-security facility in McAlester. Five other deaths were later linked to his prescribing.