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Two Thief River Falls nurses say doctor got them hooked on painkillers
December 17th, 2008Two former nurses who pleaded guilty to illegally obtaining prescription drugs told police that a doctor they worked for got them hooked and then ensnared them in a scheme to obtain thousands of pills to share with the doctor. The doctor, an obstetrician/gynecologist who used to work at the now-MeritCare clinic, used to give them painkillers out of her pocket and from a jar on her desk, Melissa Beier, 33, and Sarah Sabol, 31, told police in transcripts obtained by the Herald. Later, the doctor would give them prescriptions to fill, which they would share with her, they said.
That doctor has been part of a wider investigation involving prescription drugs by the Drug Enforcement Administration but she has not been charged. Kristin Hanson, the assistant Pennington County attorney prosecuting the nurses, said she believes they told police the truth but allegations of co-conspiracy alone are not enough to charge someone with a drug crime. Not enough other evidence came to light of the doctor’s role, Hanson said.
When the doctor stopped working at the clinic, the nurses said they began posing as Dr. Eloise-Marie Clark to get prescriptions because Beier worked for Clark. The case came to light June 30 when a Wal-Mart pharmacist called police. The two nurses had been getting too many prescriptions, and he suspected they had been posing over the phone as doctors. Sabol and Beier pleaded guilty to a fifth-degree felony in the twin cases. Beier was sentenced Monday to a year and a day in jail, with all but 14 days postponed, and up to five years supervised probation. Sabol is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 29 in state district court in Thief River Falls.
Easy access
The day after the pharmacist called police, Craig Mattson, the police department’s chief deputy, interviewed both nurses separately, more than once. Waiving their Miranda rights, they admitted that they had fraudulently obtained painkillers from three pharmacies in town over a period of at least 18 months, from Jan. 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008.
It all started as early as 2006, when Dr. Denise
McSherry, who also performed plastic surgery, gave Sabol painkillers as part of the preparation for liposuction on Sabol, the nurse said. The painkiller was Vicodin, a common brand-name form of the painkiller hydrocodone, the narcotic named in the nurses’ felony charges. McSherry made the pills easily available during work, the nurses said. Beier said when she began working in a hallway near McSherry’s office, the doctor “just always had them in her pocket. I mean, she was eating them when we were eating them.”
The doctor would give them “handfuls” of pills from bottles in her office, Beier said. Early on, McSherry also obtained Ativan, a sedative often used to treat anxiety, from Sabol, Beier said. “She wanted some of that, too, for some flying that she was doing and it just started from there.”
A scheme
The nurses said they never sold or gave away any of the painkillers, except for the share that went back to McSherry. “She would call in prescriptions and expect us to give her half of them,” Beier said. Sometimes, McSherry called in fraudulent prescriptions to pharmacists, Sabol said. Sometimes, Sabol said, “she would have Missy call, sometimes she would just tell Missy to write it and fax it over.”
McSherry also used other nurses to obtain the prescription weight-loss drug, Phentermine, because McSherry “couldn’t get a prescription for them because she has a heart condition,” Sabol said. Sabol gave Mattson the name of another nurse who Sabol said McSherry also used to illegally obtain prescription drugs. The nurses said they realized McSherry was into something beyond what they were wrapped up in. In 2006 and 2007, McSherry “had a lot of (prescriptions) that she was bringing in from the Internet business stuff,” Sabol said.
Utter addictionSabol and Beier both told Mattson they got so addicted to the painkillers they were willing to violate their professional ethics and the law. “It just escalated from there, you know,” Sabol said. “It’s like once you start you can’t quit.” She knew the scheme was wrong, Sabol said, and told Mattson that McSherry told the nurses not to tell anyone about it. Beier told Mattson that in a six-month period, she and Sabol illegally obtained and used 4,000 painkiller pills.
Sabol said she took the pills at night, after work, and that her husband never knew about it. Beier said she ended up using up to 14 pills a day, even while working. Mattson expressed disbelief, telling her a pharmacist told him that was too much to allow most people to function at all. But Beier said her tolerance for the drug had built up so much. “It was at the point where you couldn’t function without them.” At one point, Beier used her daughter to obtain more prescription drugs. During Beier’s sentencing hearing on Monday, a court official, Mary Gerardy, described prescription painkillers as more addictive than even methamphetamine.
No charges
McSherry denied to the Herald that she had any involvement with Sabol’s and Beier’s crimes. She has been interviewed by DEA agents, as recently as several weeks ago. But, as far as she knows, the investigation is over, she said, and there have been no charges filed. Dan Moren, assistant special agent in charge of the Minneapolis-St. Paul DEA office, said Wednesday he can’t comment on any ongoing investigation and can’t comment on whether the investigation of McSherry is ongoing. But he said McSherry in October voluntarily surrendered her DEA identification, so she no longer can prescribe drugs as a physician.
McSherry is licensed to practice medicine in Florida, Minnesota and North Dakota. Last month, the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice reprimanded her because of sanctions taken against her by a Florida medical board for her alleged part in a scheme to offer painkiller prescriptions over the Internet without properly examining patients. In the Florida case, she paid about $11,500 in fines and fees as part of the medical board sanction. McSherry told the Herald she paid the sanction not because she was guilty but to get it behind her. She blamed others who were penalized by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration in that case for using her DEA identification without her knowledge.
At least one other physician in that case had his DEA identification taken away by the DEA as a result of the investigation. Thief River Falls Police Chief Kim Murphy and county prosecutors confirm the DEA has been working a wider investigation in town involving the illegal procurement and abuse of prescription drug. During his interviews, Mattson told the nurses not to have any contact with McSherry because “(she) is part of this investigation now.”
Moren said prescription drug crimes have become a big part of the DEA’s work. “That category of drug abuse has increased faster than any other drug in the last couple of years,” Moren said. It’s now the No. 2 drug of abuse, behind only marijuana, nationwide, he said. “So we are spending a lot of resources on it at a national level, to try and combat that.”
Former Pasco deputy gets two years in prison for drug deal
December 17th, 2008Don Riggans spent his life serving in the Army, working up the ladder in law enforcement and building a life with his wife and two daughters. Earlier this year, the family found their dream house, but it was just beyond their reach. To raise some quick cash, Riggans, a former Pasco sheriff’s deputy, took an illegal route and met the ultimate disgrace: arrest on federal charges that he conspired to distribute thousands of pain pills for illegal sale. Riggans admitted he used the trappings of his position — a police cruiser, vest and agency firearm — to conduct a bogus traffic stop on a drug runner (who was actually an informant) to rip off the proceeds of the drug sale.
His sentencing was Friday. His wife, Kimberly, also a sheriff’s deputy, spoke through tears about the model person her husband had been before making this mistake. Riggans himself said his lowest moment was explaining to his daughters, ages 7 and 8, what he had done. His lawyer pleaded for leniency. U.S. District Judge Richard Lazzara listened, but then posed this question: “Who protects us from the protectors?” Lazzara said Riggans’ actions “undermine the rule of law, and without the rule of law we are nothing.”
Riggans, 35, came to court facing a minimum of five years in prison after pleading guilty in September to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute hydrocodone and possession of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. Federal prosecutors recommended a lighter sentence because Riggans had cooperated in the investigation and admitted responsibility. Lazzara ultimately decided on 24 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
The sentence was met with more sobs from the group of 30 or so friends and family in attendance. Riggans hung his head. A second Pasco deputy has already been sentenced in the case. Rodney Philon, a former jail deputy, held Pasco SWAT deputies on an hours-long standoff at his Wesley Chapel home March 16 before surrendering on charges of illegal possession of anabolic steroids. He was accused of selling an informant 10 pink tablets of the steroid Dianabol from his own stash during a meeting in the parking lot of a State Road 54 Publix.
Philon, 38, pleaded guilty and was sentenced in September to two years of probation, including six months of house arrest and 75 hours of community service. Also at Friday’s hearing were Robert “Fat Bob” Caddick of Oviedo and Kevin Massimino of Tampa. Caddick was chief financial officer of Medipharm, a pharmacy that was raided by federal agents in late 2006 and labeled a public health risk.
Caddick made and stole prescription narcotics including hydrocodone, Xanax and Vicodin, the federal affidavit said, then falsified the company’s records to cover up the theft. Massimino put the pills in circulation. Both pleaded guilty to various drug charges. Caddick was sentenced to 27 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Massimino, who is facing the most time, had his sentencing delayed until Jan. 30.
In March, according to court documents, Riggans, Massimino and a person who turned out to be a police informant worked up a plan to sell a load of pills to a drug dealer in Miami but rip off the payment by having Riggans conduct a bogus traffic stop. They pulled off the scheme in a Winn-Dixie parking lot in Moon Lake. Shortly afterward, according to court documents, Riggans, Massimino and the informant met at a nearby school and divided up the money. Riggans’ take was $9,000.
In his speech to Lazarra on Friday, Riggans said he told his wife he’d won the money in a casino jackpot. He planned to use it to pay off debt so they could buy the new house. “I loved being a law enforcement officer and serving the community,” said Riggans, who worked up from jail deputy to field training officer and corporal. “I will probably not be able to forgive myself.” He said he hoped his actions did not harm other officers. But that was exactly the difficulty with the case, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Porcelli.
“Mr. Riggans does reflect poorly on others in law enforcement,” he said. “His offense is much more egregious than any drug dealer. He knew better. “His conduct, unlike a drug dealer’s, threatens the very system we operate under.”
Another doctor loses his right to prescribe
December 17th, 2008The Nevada State Medical Examiners Board has stripped a Las Vegas psychiatrist of his license to prescribe controlled substances because the drugs he prescribed to a Kentucky woman may have contributed to her suicide. The medical board took the action against Dr. Randall Foster at an emergency meeting Monday because he “presents an unacceptable risk to the citizens of Nevada,” documents show. Authorities are continuing to investigate other patient complaints about the doctor.
Foster, who is 81 years old and has been licensed in Nevada since 1978, was operating more as a pain specialist than a psychiatrist, according to a complaint filed against him with the medical board.
Foster declined to comment to the Sun. In the case of the Kentucky patient, Foster allegedly performed only one “limited” examination during the six years he prescribed her opiates for her pain, the complaint said. He is accused of continuing to prescribe her drugs after she wrote him a letter saying she was struggling with addiction and was taking the medications only to avoid withdrawal symptoms, the complaint said. The woman later killed herself. The complaint does not say when or how she died. “(The patient’s) addiction likely contributed to (her) overall dissatisfaction with her life and may have contributed to her committing suicide,” the complaint said.
Medical board officials said Foster did not keep regular office hours and patients had to call him at home to make an appointment. No more details can be discussed until the investigation is complete, officials said. The medical board documents do not name the specific drugs Foster was prescribing. But the opiate family includes narcotic painkillers such as oxycodone, the main ingredient in OxyContin and hydrocodone, which goes by the brand names Vicodin and Lortab.
A Sun analysis this year found that Nevadans consume about twice the national average of several prescription painkillers, making us among the most narcotic-addled populations in the United States. The consequences are deadly. More people in Clark County die of prescription narcotics overdoses than of overdoses of illicit drugs or from vehicle accidents. In 2006, Nevadans were the No. 1 users per capita of hydrocodone — better-known by the brand names Vicodin and Lortab. Nevada is ranked fourth in the nation for methadone, morphine and oxycodone use per person, the Sun analysis found.
Experts say the state is in the midst of a prescription drug crisis, and part of the problem is doctors and other providers who recklessly prescribe the drugs. On Nov. 13, the medical board suspended Henderson family physician Dr. Kevin Buckwalter’s license to prescribe controlled substances after a review of his records found four cases of malpractice, including one in which “excessive” doses of narcotics contributed to a patient’s death.
The medical board’s action against Buckwalter came two months after the Sun published the first story in a months-long investigation of Buckwalter’s practice. The Sun found the doctor had been prescribing narcotics and the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in alarmingly large amounts. Experts who reviewed Buckwalter’s medical records — with the permission of patients and their families — told the Sun his prescription habits contributed to three deaths and one overdose. Louis Ling, executive director of the medical board, said the scope of the wrongful prescribing is unknown. State authorities generally investigate a doctor’s history of prescribing only if it is triggered by a patient’s complaint, he said.
He said the board’s recent actions against Buckwalter and Foster are indicative of how the state is investigating the overprescribing of narcotic medicines while respecting the legitimate care of patients who suffer from pain. The medical board complaint against Foster includes four patients, but three cases are still being investigated, Ling said. The complaint accuses Foster of three counts of wrongdoing: malpractice, failure to maintain adequate medical records and failure to follow the pain management guidelines set by the Federation of State Medical Boards. Those guidelines state that doctors must perform examinations, measure the success of their treatment and monitor them to ensure they’re not abusing the drugs.
Elburn resident accused of illegally selling painkillers
December 17th, 2008A pharmacist at his family’s recently shuttered St. Charles drugstore has been arrested on charges stemming from the alleged illegal sale of thousands of prescription painkillers. Mark L. Burger, 41, of Elburn, a former pharmacist at Burger Drugs, surrendered Monday to Kane County officials after his indictment on 10 felony counts, including a charge of unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.
He was released from the Kane County Jail after posting 10 percent of a $100,000 bond. On the most serious charge, he could face a 30-year prison sentence. Kane County authorities allege that from 2006 to 2008, Burger illegally possessed large amounts of hydrocodone and methadone at his home with intent to deliver. Under federal law, such drugs must be kept at federally registered locations.
Burger’s arrest follows an investigation that began in January, when an informant tipped narcotics officers that a St. Charles man was obtaining “several hundreds to thousands of Vicodin” at a time from Burger Drugs, according to court documents.
In a search warrant affidavit, police said they watched the man, William Schauer, meet with Burger on several occasions at the 9 E. Main St. pharmacy. In February, police stopped Schauer after he left the pharmacy and found more than 200 pills in his possession, court records state. In March, officers searched Burger’s Elburn home, seizing more than $9,000 in cash along with drugs, authorities said.
In a March statement, Schauer, who also has been charged, estimated he had purchased 15,000 pills from Burger over the previous year, usually meeting the pharmacist just before or after store hours. “Schauer related that he would pay cash for the pills and believed Burger kept the money for himself, hiding it from the business,” the affidavit stated. Burger’s pharmacy license was indefinitely suspended by the state in a June order.