Pain Relief Network raises ante in suit over Kan. doctor's case - Roxana Hegeman; Associated Press; 2008-02-28. Source.
See also:
Newsflash - PRN in Kansas (updated news archive)
PRN vs. Kansas - The Complete Lawsuit (ZIP)
WICHITA, Kan.—An advocacy group for chronic-pain patients raised the ante Thursday in its lawsuit against the government by asking a federal court to stop the Justice Department from enforcing the Controlled Substances Act on doctors in Kansas.
The New Mexico-based Pain Relief Network sued the Justice Department and the state of Kansas earlier this month over the prosecution of Dr. Stephen Schneider, who has been linked to the overdose deaths of 56 patients.
Schneider, who is jailed without bond, faces 34 federal charges, including five counts of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death.
The Justice Department and the state of Kansas in separate responses filed Thursday with the court argued that the Pain Relief Network, a nonprofit group incorporated in New York, had no standing to sue in the case. It asked the court to deny any injunctive relief as well as deny an evidentiary hearing in the matter because PRN lacked standing.
U.S. District Judge Wesley Brown has scheduled a hearing for Friday on the group’s request for an emergency order forcing the Kansas Board of Healing Arts to restore Schneider’s medical license. The board, which regulates Kansas doctors and is named in the network’s lawsuit, suspended Schneider’s license last month, forcing his Haysville clinic to close.
Mark Stafford, attorney for the Board of Healing Arts, did not immediately return a message seeking comment. But in court documents filed Thursday, the state and KBHA argued that Kansas is immune from such lawsuits, and asked that it be dismissed as a defendant. It further argued the federal court had no jurisdiction to intervene.
“Plaintiff wants this Court to step into the medical licensing business,” the board said in its court filing. “This is a subject traditionally left to State action, and PRN fails to show why this case should be exception.”
In an amended complaint filed Thursday, PRN challenged the constitutionality of the Controlled Substances Act, arguing that it allows the federal government to improperly intrude into the physician-patient relationship. The act governs how doctors prescribe drugs.
The Justice Department said that with the latest filing PRN is seeking to insulate every medical practitioner in Kansas from the restrictions set forth in the Controlled Substances Act—arguing PRN lacks standing to pursue such relief and the court lacks jurisdiction to grant it.
Schneider and his wife, nurse Linda Schneider, were indicted in December. Besides unlawful distribution of a controlled substance, they were charged with conspiracy, health care fraud, illegal money transactions and money laundering. They are accused of directly causing four deaths and contributing to 11 others.
The Pain Relief Network and its lawyers have assumed the couple’s criminal defense and filed the civil suit on behalf of the doctor’s patients.
Through that lawsuit, the group is asking the federal court to declare that patients have a fundamental right to receive pain relief through pharmaceuticals approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
The group, which contends Schneider’s license was suspended without due process, also has asked the court to tell the Board of Healing Arts to allow Dr. Joseph M. Sack to take over Schneider’s clinic until the criminal case has been decided. It also asked for an order stopping the Justice Department from taking “further harassing actions” against the clinic in its operation under Sack, who holds a valid medical license.
Also, PRN asked that a special master be appointed to oversee the reopened clinic’s operation to protect it from charges of money laundering.
“While the Pain Relief Network alleges it is seeking to assert the rights of 1,000 unnamed, unidentified former patients of Dr. Stephen Schneider, the plaintiff in actuality is attempting to assert the rights of Dr. Stephen Schneider, and by extension, prospectively clock Dr. Joseph Sack with unlimited carte blanche authority to reopen the Schneider Medical Clinic under the auspices of Dr. Schneider’s medical license and continue Dr. Schneider’s treatment of patients,” the Justice Department said in court documents.
It noted PRN was not seeking authority for Sack to operate his own medical practice at the physical location of the former clinic, but to continue his medical practice.
In its separate filing, KBHA argued that PRN failed to substantiate any claim of injury to patients. It also noted that if Sack were willing to treat Schneider’s patients, then PRN cannot credibly claim patients are not able to get needed care.
The board also argued that court-ordered reinstatement would enable Schneider to continue prescribing painkillers—the conduct for which he was indicted and jailed.
“Plaintiff’s astonishing request is made despite any evidence whatsoever that the State’s action was contrary to the laws of Kansas or unsupported by evidence, or that Schneider is unable to challenge the State’s actions,” KBHA said. “Indeed, Plaintiff seeks to intervene even though Schneider has not appealed the suspension of his license.”
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