PHARMACIST STEVE

On Oct 12, 2019, at 2:13 PM, mark ibsen <markmusheribsen@gmail.com> wrote:

 

 

Dear Mr Harrington:

 

I could not post in the comments section of the Sandusky register,

So

I am responding in the email. 

Would you kindly ad this to the comments,

Or use this as an OpEd?

Thanks 

 

I have followed Dr Bauer’s case with interest,

As he courageously stands by his patients. 

In his original indictment,

You reported:

 

“According to the indictment from 2007 to this year, Bauer repeatedly prescribed powerful painkillers — including fentanyl, oxycodone, hydrocodone and morphine — without a legitimate medical purpose.

“It’s a terrible betrayal of the public-trust when professionals like Dr. William Bauer are engaged in corrupt practices, to include the diversion of controlled substances,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Keith Martin.

The indictment lists 200 times between 2015 and 2018 that Bauer allegedly improperly distributed controlled substances to seven patients.”

Several things to point out:

In one paragraph DEA says he’s been a criminal since 2007.  My question would be: if he is such a heinous criminal, What Took DEA so long to indict him?

Next question: who decides what IS a legitimate medical purpose? A neurologist with 55 years of experience, or an agent who may or may not have graduated from college, let alone medical school, residency and a lifetime of practice without any legal trouble? Are they proposing this 82 year old grandpa suddenly “broke bad”?

And 

If there are 200 charges regarding 7 patients, does that equate to 28.7 charges per patient? The only way that could be is if they charged him with one felony for every Rx over a period of 29 months, right?

Again, if he’s been committing crimes over 12 years, why only 7 patients? According to the interview, he was seeing 4,000 patients, 1500 on opiates. So, law enforcement believes the 3,993 other patients were treated appropriately? How could that be? If 7 patients were inappropriately treated, would that not be best looked at by his licensing board ( his peers)?

And, if his Rx was legal in 2007, or 2015, (filled by pharmacist, taken by patient, who returned an average of 28 times for another Rx, how can they be illegal, suddenly, now?)

The constitution prohibits ex post facto laws. It calls for due process. If DEA knew he was doing this, and failed to stop him, how indeed are they keeping the citizens of Ohio safe? Is this not a form of entrapment? Or complicity? How were the 7 patients harmed? And, if they were harmed, why did they keep coming back every month?

The new charges just added to inflate the implausible number of felonies, are not equated to a number of patients, but based on previous ratios might equate to less than 10. How were these new crimes discovered? By actual deaths, or by data mining by matching a list of patients of Dr Bauer to a list of crimes by his patients? Did some of Dr Bauer’s patients commit crimes, and did they accept plea deals by lying about the legitimacy of their Rx?  This is the formula DEA has been using since 2004 and the conviction of William Hurwitz. Same techniques used against 1500 doctors over the last 15 years. (See the book 3 Felonies A Day, by Harvey Silverglate). 

We all need to look at the elephant in the room: agencies are thinking very simplistically about the epidemic of heroin/illicit fentanyl, as if doctors prescribing to the 20 million legitimate pain patients who need the medication are the cause. In other words, there is this myth:Johnny, the star high school quarterback breaks his collarbone, gets 20 Percocet, and dies 7 years of heroin OD, and we must blame someone, so let’s blame the doctor. Regarding cars, diabetic meds, air traffic control, and AIDS, we have always engaged in harm reduction, much more successful than prohibition, which has never once worked. 

Let’s stop scapegoating kind old doctors and do our best to reduce harm- in patients, cars, airplanes, infectious diseases, diabetes and all things health related. God Bless Dr Bauer, honoring the Oath of Hippocrates 

 

MarkIbsenMD 

Helena Mt

https://latterly.org/pain-killer/

 

Filed under: General Problems