Jun.16, 2010, 17:29

The prosecution has rested its case and now the trial of Dr. Stephen Schneider and his wife Linda, who have been accused of overprescribing pain medication, thereby contributing to the fatal overdoses of 68 patients.

The prosecution in their closing arguments portrayed the couple as running a ‘Burger King for pain pill addicts’, even as the defence in argued the state had overblown its case.

This particular case had caught everyone’s attention, mostly due to the debate over medical treatment of pain in the United States, including the high number of deaths the defendants have been held responsible for.

In her closing arguments, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanya Treadway told jurors this was another sordid tale of how the defendants’ actions were controlled by money not medicine, and who instead of running a legitimate practice, ran a pill mill.

On their part, the attorney for the defence said the case was, instead about insurance companies refusing to pay for Dr. Schneider’s expensive prescriptions for the poor. Kevin Byers, Linda Schneider’s attorney told jurors, at the most the case was about reimbursement for insurance, and it was not right to doctor the Schneiders’ practice to look like a huge, rolling death machine.

Schneider, who is no longer practicing medicine, did have at least one patients’ advocacy group voice its support for him.

If, convicted, the Schneiders who have been charged in federal court with illegally prescribing narcotics, health-care fraud and money laundering, face up to life time in prison, as the indictment against the couple alleges their actions contributed to the deaths of 68 patients.

Treadway for the prosecution recounting the testimony of many, in detail told of how drug screening tests had failed, requiring increased dosages of medication, including suffering non-fatal overdoses before finally dying. Talking of patients, Treadway said one of them was a stripper who was prescribed drugs by Schneider to relieve performance anxiety.

Many of those visiting Schneider’s clinic located in Haysville, a small town south of Wichita in south-central Kansas, died within days of their last visit, she said. Often, Schneider saw over 50 patients in a day at his clinic, making for mistrakes.

While, the patients did not pay the Schneiders for their drug prescriptions, the couple instead fraudulently billed insurance companies and the government for patient services. This money went towards the purchase of a Hummer and a home in Mexico that overlooked the Pacific Ocean.

Closing arguments will cap the eighth week of trial for Dr. Schneider and his wife, charged in a 34-count indictment for unlawfully prescribing drugs, health care fraud and money laundering at their Haysville clinic.

It is expected closing arguments will take five hours.