Kansas doctor accused of running `pill mill’ out on bond
By: Roxana Hegeman
The Associated Press
HAYSVILLE, Kan. (AP) — Upon arriving home Friday from jail, Dr. Stephen Schneider petted the barking dogs who greeted him in his yard. He hugged his two teenage daughters. And he vowed to prove his innocence.
"This is great - breathing free air," he told his family.
Schneider said that while he wanted to respond to the federal indictment accusing him of running a "pill mill" linked to the accidental overdose deaths of 56 patients, he couldn't talk specifically about it while his case was pending.
"I know what we have done, and we are innocent," he said.
However, Schneider did criticize the Kansas Board of Healing Arts for its slow review of complaints brought against him. He said he believed a physician review board with a more speedy administrative process would have cleared him of wrongdoing long ago.
"There has to be some changes where things don't get out of hand like they did with me," Schneider said. "I think there should be doctor reviews. If there is some complaint about a doctor there should be a doctor review board of some sort that comes out and gets on top of it or something. If the worse thing is I am everything that they say I am, I don't think it should ever have got that far."
The two top officials at the Board of Healing Arts have resigned amid scrutiny of the agency's handling of the Schneider case. Also, the Legislature is consider a measure that would allow the board to take action quicker once questions are raised about a physician, making sanctions possible after a single complaint. The board has said state law requires it to document a pattern before sanctioning a doctor for substandard care.
Mark Stafford, the attorney for the Board of Healing Arts, did not immediately return a message left at his office for comment. Stafford was one of the two officials who resigned in the wake of legislative criticism about the agency.
Schneider and his wife, nurse Linda Schneider, were arrested Dec. 19 on a 34-count federal indictment alleging conspiracy, unlawful distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death, health care fraud, illegal money transactions and money laundering.
The U.S. attorney's office declined to comment Friday on the case.
Stephen Schneider had been held in federal custody until Friday, when he was released on a $325,000 unsecured bond pending his February 2009 trial. His wife is still being held, and a decision about her release will be made after a psychological evaluate at a federal facility in Texas.
"This is a great day," Schneider said. "It is tainted because we are separated."
The federal indictment alleges the Schneiders directly caused four deaths and contributed to the deaths of 11 other patients. In all, it links the clinic to 56 deaths.
Federal agents raided the couple's Haysville clinic in September 2005 and March 2006.
"We just assumed it would all go away, but it didn't," he said.
The doctor said it was "terrible to hear all those things" in the charges against him and his wife, but that the couple will show the claims aren't true.
It will be easier to help with his defense now that he is out of jail, he said.
"I just hope the judge lets my mom out," said Gina Schneider, 15.
Tears welling in his eyes, Schneider hugged his two teenage daughters at home and said his time in prison made him more appreciative of his family.
"I am trying to grasp it all," he said. "It is going to be a different life for a while because of the restrictions."
The doctor must notify the court of any action to reinstate his medical license, and he cannot apply for another Drug Enforcement Administration registration number that would allow him to prescribe controlled substances.
Other release conditions include electronic monitoring. Schneider is restricted to home detention except for employment, religious services, attorney visits and other specified activities.
The doctor said he was looking forward to talking to his wife by phone later Friday, and couldn't wait to hug and kiss her. The Schneiders were not allowed to write each other while imprisoned.
"We are a team. We think alike," Schneider said. "We need each other's support to get through this."
For now, with his clinic closed, he planned to look for a job.
"I am just going to take it day by day," he said.
