Salem-News.com Articles written by Marianne Skolek

Schneiders Guilty!!!

"Justice has nothing to do with what goes on in a courtroom -- Justice is what comes out of a courtroom" (Clarence Darrow, Lawyer and Writer)

(WICHITA, Kansas) - A federal jury today found a Kansas former doctor and his nurse wife guilty of conspiring to profit from illegally prescribing painkillers to dozens of patients who later died.

Schneiders Fate in the Hands of the Jury

The verdict could come down very soon.

(WICHITA, Kansas) - After 8 weeks of emotional testimony, the pill mill trial of former doctor Stephen Schneider and his nurse wife, Linda Schneider has been handed over to the jury for deliberation beginning Wednesday morning.

Schneider has been referred to as the "Candy Man" and his former clinic as the "Burger King for pain pill addicts" with reports of overdosing and deaths of patients.

Schneider Trial Week 7

"Doctors will have more lives to answer for in the next world than even we generals" - Napoleon Bonaparte

(WICHITA, Kansas) - U.S. District Judge Monti Belot expects to send the Schneider case to the jury next Tuesday.

The jury is down to 11 people after another juror was discharged this week. Both the prosecution and defense have agreed that 11 jurors can decide the fate of the Schneiders.

Tumbling Tumbleweeds - a Continuing Look at the Schneider Trial in Kansas

One witness testified that while being treated by Schneider she received pain narcotics such as -- methadone, Lortabs, Soma and Xanax; a combination similar to other patients who had died of drug overdoses.

(WICHITA, Kansas) - A former police chief, a firefighter, a truck driver and a mother were among witnesses testifying on behalf of Stephen Schneider this past week during the 6th week of trial.

Schneider, a former Haysville doctor, and his wife, a nurse, are on trial on federal charges stemming from their practices of prescribing painkillers leading to patients deaths.

Schneider Trial - Week 5

"It is very sad, very sad for anybody to lose their life," Dr. Stephen Schneider on the stand

(WICHITA, Kansas) - Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanya Treadway cross examining Dr. Stephen Schneider on the stand about a deceased patient named "Robin"
Schneider: "It says right here, increased function and quality of life -- She had a life because of her pain management."
Treadway: "She doesn't anymore, does she?"
Schneider: "No, she doesn't."

Schneider Trial - Week 4

"The law does not pretend to punish everything that is dishonest. That would seriously interfere with business" - Clarence Darrow

(WICHITA, Kansas) - The trial of Stephen Schneider, former doctor, whose pain clinic has been linked to 68 deaths and who was known in the medical community as the "candy man" for his prescribing habits had some dramatic moments in the courtroom this past week.

The jury heard Brent Rody, MD and former chief medical officer for Via Christi Hospital in Wichita, testify at the trial of Schneider and his wife, Linda, a nurse at the clinic.

Westboro Baptist Church and the Evil Within

And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free.
And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.

(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) - I am deviating from my usual writing of articles on the criminal activities of the pharmaceutical industry and their funded pain societies to write about something that happened today in my new hometown of Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church located in Topeka, Kansas came to picket in front of our high schools.

Week 3 - Stephen Schneider Trial

"Half-remembered names and faces But to whom do they belong?
When you knew that it was over
In the autumn of goodbyes" Lyrics from Windmills (or Pill Mills) of your Mind

(WICHITA, Kansas) - In Week 3 of the Stephen and Linda Schneider trial in Wichita, Kansas, the jury heard Ted Parran, a physician from Cleveland, Ohio refer to the Schneider Medical Clinic as a "pill mill."

Dr. Parran is considered a nationally recognized addiction specialist.

American Pain Society`s 29th Annual Scientific Meeting

Strange -- 20 years later, we don't hear mention of pseudo-addiction, but we certainly hear mention of a dramatic rise in drug overdose deaths by 5-fold as a result of opioids -- and this comes from the FDA. Coincidence?

(BALTIMORE, Md.) - The American Pain Society held its 29th Annual Scientific Meeting this past weekend in Baltimore, Maryland.

Of particular interest to some pharmaceutical companies producing opioids in their promotion of the "epidemic of the undertreatment of pain" in this country is the U.S. FDA's controversial REMS.

Week Two of the Schneider Trial

‏A skull and crossbones is a symbol consisting of a human skull and two bones crossed together under the skull. It is generally used as a warning of danger -- usually in regard to poisonous substances.

(WICHITA, Kansas) - Week 2 of the "Pill Mill Doc" trial in Wichita, Kansas ended with testimony from previous employees of the pain clinic.

The court heard from patients, family members, and an ER physician from a local hospital.