TheAgitator.com
The Government’s “Expert” in the Rottschaefer Case
Saturday, February 16th, 2008Looking back through old emails, I found one from Dr. Bernard Rottschaefer’s son, which outlined the problems with the government’s expert in the criminal trial. Those problems are numerous. Remember, this is the “expert” the government used to supplement the five patient witnesses, all of whom later admitted in civil suits that they gave false testimony.
The guy knew very little about pain management, particularly the management of chronic pain.
• Dr. Clough was unable to read electronic medical charts.• Dr. Clough admitted to not receiving all the medical records.• Dr. Clough admitted to only reviewing parts of the records he did receive.
• Dr. Clough admitted to post dating controlled substance prescriptions (which was illegal at the time of the trial for under both Pennsylvania and federal law).
• Dr. Clough admitted to having few patients on chronic pain medications (5 in total).
• Dr. Clough admitted to not knowing or having a working knowledge of the blackbox warning of Oxycontin within the Physician Desk Reference. This publication is the gold standard on the proper measures in prescribing a medication and the black box is the strongest warning offered.
• Dr. Clough admitted to having both limited education in pain management and having limited continuous education in pain management.
• Dr. Clough recommended Oxycontin on an as needed basis within his opinion (this is contrary to the FDA approval of the medication and the generally accepted standard). Basically, Dr. Clough recommended taking Oxycontin, a long-acting pain management medication, like a tylenol for a headache.
• Dr. Clough inferred that monthly follow up and monitoring of patients on chronic pain medication is not the medical community standard.
• Dr. Clough admitted that there is no requirement to run tests in order to prescribe Oxycontin to a patient.
• Dr. Clough never met or reviewed the patients in person. He merely reviewed the charts.
• Dr. Clough described and referred to Duragesic (Fentanyl) as “pharmaceutical heroin” before the jury. This is slanderous and wrong.
• Dr. Clough viewed 20 mg of Oxycontin as an excessively high dosage. This is the second lowest dosage for which the medication is available. Oxycontin comes in 10mg, 20mg, 80mg, and 160mg.
• Dr. Clough viewed .5mg of Xanax as an excessively high dose; however this is the second lowest dosage for which that medication is available.
• Dr. Clough admitted to not being familiar with the medical procedure know as air acupuncture.
The full patient records revealed that the women for which the government says Dr. Rottschaefer was wrongly prescribing these medications were getting similar or identical medications from other doctors, none of whom were prosecuted. For this “expertise,” the government paid Dr. Clough $11,000 of your tax dollars so they could put put Dr. Rottschaefer in prison.
Doesn’t look like it is going to change soon. Going on my third year without a job, I wonder if treating patients like human beings was not a bad thing to do. The answer is self evident, as far as I see it! But it seems self-serving, among most physicians who seem to care less and less about their patients every year! We get guys like the “expert” here to treat our ills. And, the “good” doctors are out of work for life! It is a geat deal about politics in medicine and not the benefit of the patient. Add in the DEA practicing medicine, and you have a coctail of woe for the suffering in our society!
For every MD charged with illegal proliferation of pharmaceutical pain meds there should be 10 arrests of those who manufacture and distribute the same. Far more drugs are “diverted” to the streets before they get to the patient by those farther up the ladder than MD’s. U. of Wi. researchers *reported that between the years of 2000 and 2003, while including only 22 states in their study,
28,500,000 dosage units of opioids
were reported stolen (as required by the DEA) from manufacturers , distributors, and pharmacies, prior to ever reaching accessibility to a prescription pad, or patient of a physician.
Before we allow the ‘powers that be’ to focus our attention on the Doctor/Patient activities lets remember that the magician fools us by diversion or use of misdirection of our attention, but this isn’t magic we’re talking about here, it’s a purposeful fixation on one part of a large hole in our legal system.
* Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2005; 30(4):299-301.
Dr. Douglas Clough is now the President Elect of the Allegheny County Medical Society. See link: http://www.acms.org/info/index.html
That is right. While Dr. Clough admits to testifying on aspects of medicine he has no education or experience within and admits to violating the controlled substance laws and regulations of both Pennsylvania and the federal courts, he has utilized his political backing to secure a cushy job as head of medicine for the Pittsburgh community.
God help Pittsburgh when a doctor such as Dr. Clough not only admits to improperly treating patients and breaking the law, but also serves as a prominent member and representative of the medical community.
What is next, putting Mike Nifong in charge of the ethic review board for the Department of Justice.
I’m a lawyer, who used to practice only as a trial lawyer. We called most experts “whores”. Can you guess why?
Have to respond to the comments here. First to Roberoo, I’m not sure what report you are referencing and not sure its relevance to the issue at hand. The case of Dr. Rottschaefer is one based on outright perjury, concealed deals with the witnesses by the prosecution, and lack luster alleged expert testimony of Dr. Clough. So, the issue is not where the focus of the attention should be, the issue is that the focus on justice in this case has been subverted by the self serving interests of the prosecution that has put its desire for a conviction ahead of the interests of justice in this case.
As for the whore comment, I whole heartedly agree. People in Pittsburgh are starting to wake up to Dr. Clough. While he still holds the prominence of a position in the Allegheny County Medical Society, the legal community has pushed him out of malpractice cases as an expert because as this post documents, Dr. Clough is unqualified. Hopefully someone will eventually take Dr. Clough to task in the court of law for providing flawed testimony and admitting to violating the law in relation to controlled substances. BUt since US Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan has chosen not to investigate, indict, and for that matter revoke her plea agreements with her five witnesses in Dr. Rottschaefer’s case that have been proven per sworn testimony to have lied under oath, I doubt she will turn her sights onto Dr. Clough anytime soon.
Lets see, across the entire country is being perverted and subverted by members of the club! In each case it usually enriches one or two members, but the club industry as a whole.
Now we citizens are learning that the legal club is infiltrating the medical club with the same sickness.
My or my what are the poor citizens to do to make this change?
There was a tea party once in Boston, organized to send a message to a king across an ocean. The king was unamused and sent the police, err, armed troops in to kick somebody’s ass. Got their own kicked in the process.
The second amendment is pretty specific in that if our republic is being threatened, it is our duty to make corrections so that it stays on track.
If the ballot box is not providing relief, then an alternate form is available. A nation of 300 million people should not be restricted to the liars and thieves that somehow continue to get elected via the real blood they spill along their paths.
Tea parties?
It may be time for another one.