Week 1 of Pill Mill Doc Trial in Wichita, Kansas

"So dark the con of man" - Da Vinci Code

Images used by the Wichita Eagle Newspaper show former doctor Stephen Schneider & his wife Linda, who is a nurse, in better times. They are on trial for actions leading to "abuse, overdoses, and deaths."

(WICHITA, Kansas) - In opening statements this past week in what could be a 12 week trial, Assistant US Attorney Tanya Treadway portrayed Stephen Schneider, a former doctor, and his wife Linda, a nurse in his medical practice as "greedy criminals".

Marianne Skolek

"This is a case about money, not medicine," she told jurors this week. Treadway said prescription drugs were dispensed when Schneider, at the time a practicing doctor, was not in the office which resulted in "abuse, overdoses, and deaths."

Treadway compared the Schneider's clinic architectural design as that of a Mexican restaurant. "And like a Mexican restaurant, people lined up at the door, waiting to get in," the prosecutor said.

Stephen Schneider's attorney, Lawrence Williamson, compared the prosecution's case to "The Da Vinci Code," calling it "historical fiction."

Williamson argued that the Schneiders were treating Medicaid patients no one else would treat and thereby billing the government more than any other doctor in the state of Kansas. (Note the population of Kansas is approximately 3,000,000 people and there are approximately 400 family practice physicians in Wichita alone with an estimated total of 6,800 physicians in the state of Kansas). "He was costing them too much money," so the government decided to shut him down."

While Treadway emphasized the 68 deaths among Schneider patients, Williamson said the practice had cared for more than 10,000 patients and Schneider was not aware of the extent of overdoses until federal prosecutors filed criminal charges against them. Williamson focused on possible natural causes of deaths of Schneider's patients, rather than drug overdoses.

Booking photo of the Schnieders, on not so good of a day.

Williamson reviewed individual autopsies, pointing to other symptoms that showed up in patients who a coroner said died of overdoses of prescription drugs.

Jaime Oeberst, chief medical examiner for Sedgwick County, acknowledged some of the patients had evidence of heart disease in her autopsies, but Oeberst stressed that although the patients had those conditions, they died from ingesting large amounts of drugs.

The defense contends that patients hold responsibility for their misuse of the prescriptions.

The prosecution says the doctor provided so many drugs, it made it easier for the patients to abuse them.

"What we have seen is nearly every patient had a serious cardiac condition, or people who have abused illegal drugs" said Williamson.

Hasn't the American Heart Association written articles on damage to the heart as a result of "drug amount, type and intensity?" These same risks of serious cardiac problems result in people who use prescribed drugs incorrectly or in large amounts.

The second week of the Schneider trial resumes on Monday morning.

Today's article written as a voice for Billie R , age 45, date of death May 4, 2002

The Series:

Jun-16-2010: Schneiders Fate in the Hands of the Jury - Marianne Skolek Salem-News.com

Jun-11-2010: Schneider Trial Week 7 - Marianne Skolek Salem-News.com