Jury: Schneiders’ acts led to patients’ deaths

Robin G. went to the Schneider Medical Clinic with migraine headaches and received lollipops filled with fentanyl, a drug many times stronger than morphine.

Those lollipops, a coroner ruled, killed her at age 45.

A jury on Thursday found Stephen Schneider and his wife, Linda, guilty of prescription practices that led to the deaths of Robin and nine other former patients.

Jurors in federal court in Wichita reached their verdict on their seventh day of deliberation, after seven weeks of testimony and arguments by lawyers.

The 17-page verdict sheet found Stephen Schneider, 56, guilty of 19 counts of illegally prescribing narcotics, health care fraud and money laundering.

Jurors found Linda Schneider, 52, a licensed practical nurse who managed the Haysville clinic, guilty on 32 criminal counts — many dealing with financial gains from the practice.

The Schneiders face 20 years to life in federal prison when they return for sentencing before U.S. District Judge Monti Belot. U.S. marshals took the couple into custody after the verdict was read. No date has been set for their sentencing.

The Schneiders came to court to hear the verdict with their two daughters, ages 18 and 17. A friend said the daughters are staying with extended family.

"The evidence in this case of patients suffering from overdose and death points to the fact that when prescription painkillers are unlawfully prescribed, they can be as dangerous as illegal drugs," U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch said in a statement.

Prosecutor Tanya Treadway said the Schneiders ran a "pill mill," which dispensed strong narcotics, including oxycodone (Oxycontin, Percocet), morphine (Avinza), methadone, hydrocodone (Lortab), diazepam (Valium), alprazolam (Xanax) and clonazepam (Klonopin).

The lawyers for the Schneiders disagreed with the verdicts.

"It was an overly complex and overcharged case," said Lawrence Williamson, the lawyer who defended Stephen Schneider. "We're hoping the appellate courts will take a close look at it and realize this isn't the way to prosecute cases."

Kevin Byers, who defended Linda Schneider, added: "Without hyperbole, this is a crushing blow to constitutional rights. If it can happen to them, it can happen to anyone."

Patients and former clinic employees testified during the trial that narcotics were traded in the clinic's waiting room. They said Stephen Schneider, a former physician, and physician assistants would dispense painkillers with minimal medical examinations.

Jurors found the Schneiders worked in a criminal conspiracy, where as many as 68 patients died of drug overdoses.

Robin G. was the 58th patient from the Schneider Medical Clinic to die, according to court documents.

She died in May 2007, four days after she received a prescription for 120 of the fentanyl lollipops, or Actiq, for her headaches. Actiq is a drug manufactured for terminal cancer patients.

The jury also found the Schneiders' prescription practices directly caused the overdose deaths of Patricia G. 49; Eric T., 46; Kandace B., 43; Mary Sue L., 55; Jo Jo R., 46; Billy R., 45; Mary Jo S., 52; Robert S., 31; and Toni W., 37.

The jury also convicted the Schneiders of illegally prescribing drugs to another woman, Patricia C., who later died of a drug overdose at age 43.

Patients were not identified by their full names because of the details of their medical histories revealed during the trial.

Jurors didn't reach a unanimous decision or didn't find the Schneiders responsible for causing the deaths of 11 other patients.

The couple was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

"Stephen Schneider and Linda Schneider defrauded health care benefit programs by submitting claims, receiving payment for medical services not provided and causing health care benefit programs to pay for illegal prescriptions," Judy Williams of the Drug Enforcement Administration said in a statement.

Testimony during the trial pointed to the Schneiders billing $4 million in inflated claims to Medicaid and other insurance companies.

Linda Schneider was convicted on 15 counts of money laundering, which included moving as much as $130,000 from a Wichita bank to an account in Mexico. The jury convicted Stephen Schneider on two of 17 counts of money laundering.

This story was originally published June 25, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Jury: Schneiders’ acts led to patients’ deaths."