Kansas doctor, wife convicted over 68 fatal drug overdoses

A KANSAS doctor and his wife have been found guilty on conspiracy and illegal prescriptions charges contributing to the fatal overdoses of 68 patients by over-prescribing pain medication.

Stephen Schneider and his wife, Linda, were taken into custody immediately after the verdicts were read in a federal court, where the doctor was convicted on 19 of 34 counts, and his wife on 32 counts.   The charges included conspiracy, illegally prescribing narcotics and money laundering.

Linda Schneider and the couple’s two adopted daughters, who are in their late teens and originally from Romania, sobbed as the verdicts were handed out, as their attorney Lawrence Williamson described the couple as “absolutely stunned” by the verdict.   He said jurors may have been influenced by pre-trial publicity initiated by the US Attorney’s office, and promised an appeal.

“These two people are completely innocent of these charges,” their lawyer said.   “Dr. Schneider was practicing medicine.”  Assistant US attorney Tanya Treadway, who tried the case, declined comment.  The husband of a former Schneider patient who died of a prescription drug overdose at the age of 45 praised the outcome.  “It’s been a long time coming and we feel like justice has finally been served,” said Robert Wick, whose wife was identified only as “Robin G.” in court papers.

The case highlighted the debate over the treatment of pain in the United States, where some patients accuse doctors of not doing enough to alleviate suffering.  The Schneiders ran a clinic in Haysville, a small town south of Wichita, that prosecutors argued was a “pill mill” catering to drug addicts.  The Schneiders contended they were providing legitimate medical care, although they conceded they may have been duped by some patients.

Defense lawyers said the case was handed to the government by insurance companies who didn’t want to pay for expensive medication for poor people.  Siobhan Reynolds, who heads a patients’ advocacy group called the Pain Relief Network, predicted the verdict will prevent some people from getting the medication they need.  “It means the crisis in pain treatment is going to deepen even further,” said Reynolds, who traveled from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to attend the trial.

“People are not going to be able to get care because doctors are going to be afraid this is going to happen to them.”