Wichita Patients Having Difficulty Finding Docs

Wichita Patients Having Difficulty Finding Docs; Roxana Hegeman; Associated Press; 2008-02-21. [Discussion at: PRN - Hot off the Presses forum]

See also:
Newsflash - PRN in Kansas (updated news archive)
PRN vs. Kansas - The Complete Lawsuit (ZIP)

WICHITA — Patients of a Kansas doctor who is charged with illegally prescribing painkillers say medical providers have repeatedly refused to treat them out of concern that they could be subjects of similar prosecution.

On Tuesday, eight patients held a news conference outside the federal courthouse in Wichita to discuss their problems and the civil lawsuit filed last week on their behalf by the New Mexico-based Pain Relief Network.

The civil lawsuit claims the government has put patients in immediate mortal danger and created a public health disaster by suspending physician Stephen Schneider’s license to practice, which forced him to close his Haysville clinic.

“The only people that action hurt is these patients,” said Siobhan Reynolds, president of the Pain Relief Network.

The Schneider Medical Clinic had 1,000 patients when it was closed, and many of the patients have had to use hospital emergency rooms because most local doctors refuse to treat them, Reynolds said.

The civil lawsuit, which names Attorney General Michael Mukasey, U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren, the state of Kansas and the Kansas Board of Healing Arts as defendants, was filed by Pain Relief Network on behalf of Schneider’s patients. A summons was issued Tuesday to the defendants.

The Pain Relief Network also has taken over the defense of the doctor and his wife, nurse Linda Schneider, who were indicted in December on federal charges including conspiracy, unlawful distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death, health care fraud, illegal money transactions and money laundering.

Roy Ralstin suffers from an enlarged heart and has been out of his high blood pressure medication for a week. He said he can’t find anyone to treat him or his wife, Jennifer, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and took the last of her medication Tuesday morning.

“They are taking away our freedom to be pain-free,” Jennifer Ralstin said.

The couple have called 133 doctor offices, all of whom refused to see them after finding out they were Schneider’s patients, she told reporters.

Jim Cross, spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, said the civil lawsuit filed by the Pain Relief Network will be handled by the office’s legal civil staff in Wichita, who will file any responses.

At the Kansas Board of Healing Arts, attorney Mark Stafford said it would be best to respond to the lawsuit in court, saying there are several defenses that could be raised over the relationship between the federal court and the state of Kansas.

“I am aware that the closing of the clinic has created many questions of the availability of health care for the physician’s patients,” Stafford said.

He said the Kansas Board of Healing Arts would have no problem with another physician establishing a lawful medical practice at the leased location of Schneider’s clinic. He said whether that doctor would take custody of the records would be a separate issue that would still need to be resolved.

Jon Rossell, executive director of the Medical Society of Sedgwick County, said his group has sent a letter to physicians encouraging them to accept Schneider’s patients, and dozens of physicians have responded by taking a few patients each.

But Rossell acknowledged it has been a challenge to find enough Wichita doctors for them all, particularly when many of the patients have complex medical problems.

“Obviously when 1,000 patients descend on a community it is very difficult to incorporate those 1,000 patients in a short period of time,” Rossell said.

Deb Sowards, 41, told reporters she has screws and rods inserted throughout her back and has been on morphine since 1990 to handle the pain. When she went to a hospital emergency room after running out of painkillers, she was handed a pamphlet listing drug treatment facilities.

She spent at least five days in bed crying in severe withdrawal before finding an out-of-town doctor willing to treat her.

“I can’t find anybody here,” Sowards said, noting it is a three-hour drive to see her new doctor.

At Wesley Medical Center, spokesman Paul Petitte said the hospital’s emergency room has seen an influx of Schneider patients since the Haysville clinic closed.

The hospital is differentiating between acute-pain and chronic-pain patients when they come into the emergency room. Patients in acute pain are dealt with immediately. But patients with ongoing chronic pain are best treated in a physician’s office, he said.

“If it is a chronic pain situation, we won’t turn them away, we will take care of the situation,” Petitte said. “However, we need to refer them to the Medical Society of Sedgwick County. We can’t be responsible for them coming in with chronic pain.”

When told about claims by Schneider patients that they are being turned away even when they come for blood pressure medication or insulin, Petitte said any patients who need help will be treated by the hospital’s emergency department. The law requires the hospital to treat anybody who walks into the emergency room, he said.

“We are a hospital, we care for patients — so come on in,” Petitte said.

The civil lawsuit filed by Pain Relief Network seeks an emergency order forcing the Board of Healing Arts to restore Schneider’s medical license. It also seeks to restrain the Justice Department from harassing a new clinic to be opened under a different doctor at Schneider’s now-shuttered Haysville facility.

The group wants an injunction against the Justice Department from taking any actions to impede its treatment of patients in severe pain.

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