Salem-News.com Articles written by Marianne Skolek

Schneider Sentencing: Dr. Stephen Schneider 30 Years - Linda Schneider 33 Years

Judge spares Schneiders a life sentence in running a "pill mill" resulting in the deaths of 68 patients.

(WICHITA, Kansas) - Dr. Stephen Schneider and his wife, Linda Schneider, who were convicted in Federal Court of dozens of deaths of patients attributed to running a "pill mill" had asked a federal judge to sentence them to the minimum of 20 years in prison, rather than the life sentence prosecutors were seeking.

The Schneiders also were found guilty on five counts of unlawfully writing prescriptions and 11 health care fraud counts.

Purdue Pharma and California and Oklahoma Epidemic of OxyContin

“I kept seeing over and over and over people in their 20's addicted to OxyContin” - Dr. Charles Shaw, addiction specialist physician in Oklahoma City,

(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) - California recently reported they have an OxyContin epidemic among young people.

`Red Alert! Red Alert!`

Words our children should never hear over a loudspeaker while in the safety of their school.

(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) - This past Tuesday at approximately 2:30 pm, I received a telephone call from my 15 year old grandson, Brian. "Nonie are you watching the news?"

"No Brian - should I be?" Very calmly and with such maturity, he replied "There has been a shooting at our school -- don't worry we are all fine and in the bleachers in the football field."

AG Roy Cooper - North Carolina`s Wyatt Earp

First in a series highlighting states fighting the epidemic of prescription drug addiction, abuse, death and the "over-treatment of pain" in America.
"My name's Wyatt Earp -- It all ends now!"

(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) - AG Cooper supports expanding access to state computer records identifying people with prescriptions for certain drugs. Recently in Charlotte, N.C., Cooper called prescription-drug abuse the biggest drug threat today.

He made his remarks at a meeting with law enforcement leaders from North Carolina and 25 other states to discuss better ways to fight illegal drugs.

Pain Classified as a Disease?
Please, Give Us a Break

A declaration calls on governments and health-care institutions to establish laws, policies and systems that will help promote access to pain management.

(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) - If "pain" is recognized as a "disease" and not a "symptom" -- there won't be enough hours in the day for the DEA, the DOJ, or the FDA to restrain the pharmaceutical industry drug cartels

Last week the first International Pain Summit was held in Montreal at the 13th World Congress on Pain. A "leading pain authority" by the name of Michael Cousins, an Australian anesthesiologist, reported that about 80 per cent of people with chronic pain do not get adequate relief and are suffering needlessly throughout the world.

Schneider Trial Aftermath

My, my, at Waterloo Napoleon did surrender Oh yeah, and I have met my destiny in quite a similar way" - (Lyrics to Abba song)

(WICHITA, Kansas) - I had planned on writing an article on the sentencing of Dr. Stephen Schneider and his wife in the fall, but some interesting events occurred recently that caused me to change my mind.

For starters, federal prosecutors told a federal judge last week that Stephen and Linda Schneider should be made to forfeit more than $4.2 million in assets to help pay for their crimes. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Annette Gurney and Tanya Treadway filed a motion asking U.S. District Judge Monti Belot to award the government money the Schneiders illegally obtained.

Purdue Pharma Markets Deadly Drugs Through Facebook

Might be a good time for the FDA to make Purdue Pharma "honest" and require the word "addictive" along with "abuse liability" on their OxyContin label.

(MYRTLE BEACH, Calif.) - As the FDA finalizes their "Opioid Recommendations" by 2011, Purdue Pharma is "marketing directly to consumers" in Facebook - a social networking website

Gary Ruskin, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Commercial Alert, was quoted in 2005 as saying "Direct-to-consumer marketing of prescription drugs should be prohibited...

Narcotic Maker Guilty of Deceit Over Marketing

"Into an endless grave I fall. Only God will understand, why I'm more than gone" - Deathalizer

(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) - Since the criminal prosecution in Federal Court of the three CEO's of Purdue Pharma in July 2007, anyone curious as to what these guys are doing with themselves these days?

It's not like they are hurting for money. After all, they made a fortune out of marketing a very dangerous drug called OxyContin as less likely to be addictive or abused resulting in scores of deaths and addictions throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Fear Drug Pushers? Add Purdue Pharma`s Pain Societies to the List

"How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and how hard it is to undo that work again!" - Mark Twain

(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) - Last year the maker of OxyContin, Purdue Pharma attempted to market for "the undertreatment of pain in newborns and pediatric patients" as well as for something they called "pregnancy pain."

I made a complaint to a government agency against Purdue Pharma and they were made to discontinue this frightening marketing tactic.

Pain Relief Network Challenges Washington State`s Opioid Guidelines

What's contained in Washington State's Opioid Guidelines that has the multi-billion dollar Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, and one of their well funded pain societies fighting to keep opioids flowing in that state?

(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) - We'll begin with the Pain Relief Network's (PRN) "fight for chronic pain" treatment referring to what they are fighting for is the "dangerous crackdown on people with chronic pain."

They are turning to the protection of the courts in an effort to have the "deadly disease of chronic pain" declared a disability under the Americans With Disabilities Act.