Posted on 02/29/2008 3:34:41 PM PST by SmithL
WICHITA, Kan.—A federal judge on Friday denied a request by a patient-advocacy group to sue the federal government on behalf of patients of a physician who is charged with running a "pill mill" linked to 56 overdose deaths.
U.S. District Judge Wesley Brown urged about 40 of Dr. Stephen Schneider's patients, some of whom had come to the hearing on crutches, to seek care at the emergency room, not the court.
"If someone can prevent a criminal prosecution by filing a civil suit, there would be a flood of civil suits," Brown told the courtroom.
The judge said the patients had no standing to sue, and he refused to grant a request by the advocacy group for a temporary restraining order preventing the Justice Department from taking action against Schneider's clinic.
The Pain Relief Network, a nonprofit based in New Mexico, sued the Justice Department and the state earlier this month, claiming the clinic's 1,000 patients have been unable to find adequate care since Schneider's license was suspended in January.
Schneider, who is jailed without bond, faces 34 federal charges, including four counts of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death. The Pain Relief Network filed the lawsuit on behalf of his patients.
Siobhan Reynolds, president of the group, said the judge did not take into account affidavits from patients who complained they could not find adequate care.
"Unfortunately it is yet another example of government at any level not acknowledging people in pain," Reynolds said.
(Excerpt) Read more at contracostatimes.com ...
Government healthcare anyone?
Totally off-topic...
Are basic grammar skills required for writing jobs these days?
Wow, that sentence makes no sense at all.
Wow, 101 and still kickin.
isn’t it interesting that the libs are all in favor of suing private healthcare providers for their mistakes but when the government is to blame... tough. that is how socialism achieves its cost savings.
Yeah...the day I want the same type of clowns who run FEMA in charge of my health care will be the day I need to be shipped off to the funny farm.
Well, there'll be no more of that in this dummicrat congress, I tell you.
You sure you have the right one?
I understand your question. He’s the ONLY Wesley Brown in the federal database.
They aren’t even claiming that the government made a medical mistake. They just want the government to let Schneider out of jail, and give him back his license, so he can continue practicing fraudulent medicine.
How’s that for HillaryCare?
There is definitely not enough information in this article about the case to know what’s what.
Here’s some more background from a quick Google of “Dr. Stephen Schneider drugs”:
http://www.cpmission.com/main/painpolitics/schneider.html
Byline: Fred Mann
Jun. 23--U.S. District Judge Wesley Brown says he'd rather be known as a good judge than an old judge. But Thursday he turned 99 and had to deal with the fuss people made over it. Friends, staff and media, not to mention the president of the United States and the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, decided it was a big deal. "I've had more publicity than I deserve," Brown said ...
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-15704033_ITM
U.S. District Judge Wesley Brown urged about 40 of Dr. Stephen Schneider's patients, some of whom had come to the hearing on crutches, to seek care at the emergency room, not the court.
The Court does not provide medical care -- which is what they are seeking.
101? I’ll do some checking on my own.
Looked up his picture. He doesn’t look a day over 90.
I expect he doesn’t take a lot of guff or timewasting in his courtroom.
I looked too. He’s really that old.
Here you go:
Jailed Doctor’s Patients to Sue GovtSee also:Patients of a physician who is charged with running a "pill mill" linked to 56 overdose deaths plan to sue the government, claiming it has put patients in mortal danger and created a public health disaster by prosecuting the doctor. . . .
The group's lawsuit . . . seeks an emergency temporary restraining order. It contends the Board of Healing Arts and a Kansas district court ignored the danger to 1,000 medically vulnerable patients who have been forcibly abandoned and must now fend for themselves. . . .
The Pain Relief Network contends that the suspension of [Dr. Stephen] Schneider's license served no legitimate government interest but harmed his patients because it forced the closure of his clinic. Since Schneider's arrest, other doctors have been reluctant to take on his patients, the group said.
The group seeks an emergency order forcing the Board of Healing Arts to restore Schneider's medical license. It also seeks to restrain the Justice Department from harassing a new clinic to be opened under a different doctor, Dr. Joseph M. Sack, at Schneider's now-shuttered Haysville facility.
The group wants an injunction against the Justice Department prohibiting it from confiscating patient files or taking any other actions to impede its treatment of patients in severe pain. It also asks that prosecutors return to the clinic patient files taken in what the group alleges is a violation of federal law.
The lawsuit also asks the court to appoint a special master to oversee the reopened clinic's financial operations to protect it from charges of money laundering.
Case docket number 6:08-cv-1048, U.S. District Court, District of Kansas
Judge born in 1907? Hey, they’re Democrats; if the dead can vote they can darn well be judges.
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