Lawyers for Kan. doctor, wife plan to appeal conspiracy, fraud convictions in painkiller case
By Roxana Hegeman, APFriday, June 25, 2010
Kan. doc to appeal conviction in painkiller case
WICHITA, Kan. — Defense attorneys plan to seek the release of a Kansas doctor and his wife while they appeal their convictions on charges they conspired to profit from illegally prescribing painkillers to patients who later died.
Jurors found Dr. Stephen Schneider and his wife, Linda, guilty Thursday. Prosecutors linked their suburban Wichita clinic to 68 overdose deaths.
The Schneiders also were found guilty of unlawfully writing prescriptions and health care fraud.
No sentencing date has been set. Each faces up to a life sentence.
Linda Schneider’s attorney, Kevin Byers, blames the guilty verdict on a national crackdown on doctors caught in the middle of a federal policy dispute over the drugs.
