AG Tom Corbett Bags Another Dangerous Doc

From Those Wonderful People Who Brought You the ‘Heberle Perp Poster’…; Alex DeLuca; War on Doctors/Pain Crisis; Pain Relief Network; 2007-06-26.

From a Pennsylvania county infamous for the reckless mis-prosecutions of physicians, Erie County, comes this news item: “West Shore Doctor [Zampogna], Husband Face Drug Charges” - F. Cozzoli; The Patriot News; 2007-06-25.

[START QUOTE]
“A West Shore dermatologist and her husband were arrested today on charges that she wrote prescriptions for the painkiller Hydrocodone which she then gave to her husband for their own personal use, the state attorney general’s office said. Dr. Jennifer C. Zampogna… and her husband, Christopher, were arraigned before District Judge Charles A. Clement Jr. Dr. Zampogna, 34, is charged with one count each of obtaining a controlled substance by misrepresentation or fraud, refusal or failure to keep required records, dispensing or prescribing to a drug-dependent person, prescribing outside accepted treatment principles and willful dispensing of a controlled substance without proper labeling.”

“Christopher Zampogna, also 34, is charged with one count each of possession of a controlled substance and obtaining a substance by misrepresentation or fraud. The couple [were released on bail and] both had to forfeit their passports and seek drug and alcohol evaluations and treatment and comply with the recommendations, court documents state.”
[END: News item QUOTE]

My Friends, I have many more important, serious, articles to write, including one or more in response to Tina Rosenberg’s recent NY Times Magazine cover story: Doctor or Pusher?, and a series on the very recent 7th International Conference on Pain and Chemical Dependency held here in New York City earlier this month, which I attended.

BUT, I could not pass this item up. Attorney General Tom Corbett, and his office, first took out pain doctor David Klees, and then, after the State of PA begged Dr. Paul Heberle to take Dr. Klees’ abandoned patients, Corbett and his thugs went after Dr. Heberle. Pain patients have been abandoned in droves in Erie; AG Corbett’s office is a public health wrecking machine. And that machine started it’s attack on Heberle with this PR stunt, an outrageously blatant attempt at polluting the jury pool, the infamous Heberle press conference featuring the vicious and unfair Heberle Perp Poster (PDF - suitable for framing)

AND CORBETT LOST HEBERLE SPECTACULARLY! [Read all about it: Erie, 2006: Dr. Klees Imprisoned, Dr. Heberle Exonerated, Pain Patients Abandoned]

For those of you not overly familiar with drug war prosecutions of physicians, let me assure you the complete exoneration of the doctor at trial is vanishingly rare - it is really difficult to lose these cases if you’re the prosecution. [You can review a bunch of them: War on Pain Sufferers collection] Corbett and his team seemed dazed and confused by Heberle’s aggressive and well-prepared defense lawyers, expert consultation from the Pain Relief Network, and Dr. Heberle’s poise and presence on the witness stand. [see: Szalavitz: "The Doctor Wasn't Cruel Enough"; Reason; 2006-06-02]

One would have thought we’d seen how low Attorney General Tom Corbett could go, but apparently not. This Zampogna case is embarrassing - a pathetic joke. Here is the MAIN charge, the best they got:

Court documents state that from February 2005 through February 2007, Dr. Zampogna obtained quantities of hydrocodone, a generic form of Vicodin, by writing prescriptions in the names of several family members without their knowledge or consent. The prescriptions were filled at pharmacies throughout Cumberland County, authorities said. Dr. Zampogna picked up each prescription and paid for most of them in cash, the documents state.

After that, the charges get too silly to bother with here. He’s kidding, right? The good people of PA are going to pony up for a hideously expensive criminal investigation and trial to convict a doctor of the “drug crime” of diverting low potency opioids to, ahhh, herself? Oh, this is too rich, this is beautiful. I am making a personal plea right now to the Zampogna’s to please fight this and make them take you to trial; this could be absolutely priceless political theatre. To AG Corbett and his crew, I can only say this: “Go for it, Tom; Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump!”

Back to the ‘initial media smear’ of Dr. Z. for just a moment. Note that they aren’t crowing about ‘thousands and thousands of pills’ so I’m guessing the amounts are not that staggering, which is why they aren’t even going to bother to accuse her of dealing to schoolchildren. And we don’t yet have any weeping patients with tales of medical degradation at the hands of evil-doer Dr. Zampogna. So I’m guessing the prosecution doesn’t have them (not that they won’t be coming out of the woodwork, soon enough, smelling “malpractice” fortunes). In fact, there is no intimation that she was in any sense a ‘bad doctor.’ So I’m guessing she wasn’t. Along these lines, here is a Comment left in response to the article I quote at the beginning of this piece:

Posted by rezident1 on 06/25/07 at 8:08PM
WOW, after hearing of this I immediately contacted the many personal referrals I made to Advanced Derm. All of the comments were unanimous.. Dr. Zampogna is the BEST! She has provided me with nothing but excellent care and attention. During my continual visits I never witnessed her to be acting suspicious. Dr. Zampogna was always so upbeat and friendly… I feel that the reason this has taken such precedence is because of her status. We SUPPORT you Dr. Zampogna and all of our prayers our with you and your family. Be STRONG

Of course the reporter couldn’t be bothered to look up Dr. Zampogna’s medical credentials or report on what Dr. Z’s standing has been in the medical community. Nor are the readers reminded of Corbett’s history of going after the (usually) easy prey - doctors like Klees and Heberle. Reporters in the initial media smear phase of a doctor prosecution inevitably merely parrot the law enforcement line. [Ex: Dr. Volkman Speaks Against DEA in April - Get's Indicted in May] That’s why we call it drug war Trash Journalism.

And, of course, I cannot vouch for the Commenter quoted above, nor have I investigated Dr. Z’s medical background, nor will I (unless she asks me too). I am simply reminding us all that this is an ‘initial media smear’ of the type always mounted in drug war doctor cases. And that sometimes these get tragically out of hand. [Ex: Utah / Feds Boldly Move Toward Solution to Addiction]

For now, I am happy to sit back and just watch this insanity unfold.

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