Welcome to Gaia! ::

‘Pill mill’ caused at least 4 deaths, prosecutors say Kansas doctor, wife charged with illegally prescribing drugs


WICHITA, Kan. - A Kansas physician who allegedly operated a "pill mill" out of his Haysville clinic was charged Thursday with illegally prescribing drugs in a scheme that prosecutors allege caused the deaths of at least four patients.

A Topeka grand jury returned a 34-count indictment Thursday morning against Dr. Stephen J. Schneider, 54, and his wife, nurse Linda K. Schneider, 49.

The Schneiders are charged with one count of conspiracy, five counts of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance, 11 counts of health care fraud, 13 counts of illegal monetary transactions and four counts of money laundering.
Story continues below ↓advertisement

According to the indictment, 56 of Stephen Schneider's patients have died from accidental prescription drug overdoses in the past five years. However, only four deaths have been found to have been directly caused by drugs Schneider's clinic prescribed, the indictment said.

Schneider is not charged with killing any patients.

The person who answered the phone at the Schneider Medical Clinic on Thursday said there was no one available to comment about the indictment and did not know if the Schneiders had an attorney yet.

Christopher Cole and Steven Day, lawyers who have represented Stephen Schneider in several medical malpractice lawsuits, did not immediately return calls for comment.

References to ‘the pill man’
The 65-page indictment alleges that the doctor and his assistants wrote unlawful prescriptions for narcotic painkillers, muscle relaxers and other drugs. Drugs mentioned in the indictment included fentanyl, methadone, morphine and oxycodone.

The indictment also states that Schneider was known as "Schneider the Writer," "the pill man" and "the candy man."

According to the indictment, Linda Schneider bragged when interviewing prospective employees that the clinic, with its large number of pain-management patients, wrote more narcotics prescriptions than any other medical clinic in the state.

The indictment also says that Schneider Medical Clinic operated seven days a week and was open for 11 hours daily. Patients were scheduled 10 minutes apart and the clinic billed more than $4 million to health benefit programs, the indictment says.

Bhutto’s assassination rocks Pakistan
Attack jeopardizes elections, path to democracy in nuclear-armed nation

Bhutto assassinated Crisis in Pakistan
Dec. 27: An assassin gunned down Pakistan's former prime minister Benazir Bhutto just as the popular opposition leader was poised to retake office.

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan - Enraged crowds rioted across Pakistan and hopes for democracy hung by a thread after Benazir Bhutto was gunned down as she waved to supporters from the sunroof of her armored vehicle.

The death of President Pervez Musharraf's most powerful opponent threw the nation into chaos just 12 days before elections and threatened its already unsteady role as a key fighter against Islamic terror.

The murder of Bhutto, one of Pakistan's most famous and enduring politicians, sparked violence that killed at least nine people and plunged efforts to restore democracy to this nuclear-armed U.S. ally into turmoil.
Story continues below ↓advertisement

Another opposition politician, Nawaz Sharif, announced he was boycotting Jan. 8 parliamentary elections in which Bhutto was hoping to recapture the premiership, and Musharraf reportedly weighed canceling the poll.

In Islamabad and Washington, U.S. diplomats urged that the elections should not be postponed and strongly advised against a reimposition of emergency rule that Musharraf had lifted just weeks ago.

Bhutto, a former prime minister, was struck down amid scenes of blood and chaos as an unknown gunman opened fire and, according to witnesses and police, blew himself up, killing 20 other people.

Musharraf blamed Islamic terrorists, pledging in a nationally televised speech that "we will not rest until we eliminate these terrorists and root them out."

President Bush, who spoke briefly by phone with Musharraf, looked tense as he spoke to reporters, denouncing the "murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan's democracy."


Bhutto's death closed yet another grim chapter in Pakistan's bloodstained history, 28 years after her father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, another ex-prime minister, was hanged by a military dictatorship in the same northern city where she was killed.

Her death left her Pakistan People's Party leaderless and plunged the Muslim nation of 150 million into violence and recriminations, with Musharraf blaming Muslim extremists and Bhutto supporters accusing his government of failing to protect her in the wake of death threats and previous attempts on her life.

As the news of Bhutto's death spread, supporters gathered at the hospital where she had been taken, smashed glass doors, stoned cars and chanted, "Killer, Killer, Musharraf."

At least nine people were killed in the violence across the nation.

Musharraf called senior staff into an emergency meeting to discuss a response to the killing and whether to postpone the election, an Interior Ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. Musharraf also announced three days of mourning for Bhutto, with all businesses, schools and banks to close.

The killing appeared to shut off a possible avenue for a credible return to democracy after eight years under Musharraf's increasingly unpopular rule, and left a string of unanswered questions, chiefly whether it could strengthen Musharraf by eliminating a strong rival, or weaken him by sparking uncontrollable riots.

The U.S. was struggling to reformulate its plan to stabilize the country based on a rapprochement between Bhutto and Musharraf. Bhutto had returned in October after nearly a decade in exile hoping for a power-sharing deal with Musharraf, but had become his fierce critic, accusing elements in the ruling party of backing militants to kill her.

Pakistani analysts see gloom
"This assassination is the most serious setback for democracy in Pakistan," said Rasul Baksh Rais, a political scientist at Lahore's University of Management Sciences. "It shows extremists are powerful enough to disrupt the democratic process."

Analyst Talat Masood, a retired general, said: "Conditions in the country have reached a point where it is too dangerous for political parties to operate."

Sharif, another former premier who now leads an opposition party, demanded Musharraf resign immediately and announced his party would boycott the elections, seen as vital to restoring democracy after eight years of authoritarian rule under Musharraf. Sharif also called for the resignation of Musharraf, a former army chief who toppled Sharif in a 1999 coup.

"Musharraf is the cause of all the problems. The federation of Pakistan cannot remain intact in the presence of President Musharraf," he said.

Next to Musharraf, Bhutto, 54, was the best known political figure in the country, serving two terms as prime minister between 1988 and 1996. An instantly recognizable figure with graceful features under an ever-present head scarf, she bore the legacy of her hanged father and was respected in the West for her liberal outlook and determination to combat Islamic extremism.

It was a theme she had often returned to in recent campaign speeches.

Addressing more than 5,000 supporters Thursday in Rawalpindi, a garrison city and former capital, Bhutto dismissed the notion that Pakistan needed foreigners to help it quell resurgent militants linked to the Taliban and al Qaida in the area bordering Afghanistan.

"Why should foreign troops come in? We can take care of this, I can take care of this, you can take care of this," she said.

Bhutto official watches terror unfold
As Bhutto left the rally in a white SUV, youths chanted her name and supportive slogans, said Sardar Qamar Hayyat, an official from Bhutto's party who was about 10 yards away.

Despite the danger of physical exposure, a smiling Bhutto stuck her head out of the sunroof and responded, he said.

"Then I saw a thin young man jumping toward her vehicle from the back and opening fire. Moments later, I saw her speeding vehicle going away. That was the time when I heard a blast and fell down," he said.

Bhutto was rushed into surgery. A doctor on the surgical team said a bullet in the back of her neck damaged her spinal cord before exiting from the side of her head. Another bullet pierced the back of her shoulder and came out through her chest, he said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. She was given an open-heart massage, but the spinal-cord damage was too great, he said.

"At 6:16 p.m. she expired," said Wasif Ali Khan, a member of Bhutto's party who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital.

Hours later, supporters carried Bhutto's body out of the hospital in a plain wooden coffin and sent it for burial in her ancestral home near the southern city of Larkana.

Bhutto, who was married with three children, had returned to Pakistan from nearly a decade in exile on Oct. 18, and her homecoming parade in Karachi was also targeted by a suicide attacker, who killed more than 140 people. She narrowly escaped injury.

Rawalpindi, a garrison city and former capital, has a history of political violence. The park where Bhutto made her last speech is the same one where the country's first prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, was shot to death in 1951. It is named after him.

President Pervez Musharraf survived two bombing attacks in Rawalpindi in 2003. Earlier that year, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, was captured in Rawalpindi. In recent weeks, suicide bombers have repeatedly targeted security forces in Rawalpindi.

Bhutto's father was hanged in 1979 in Rawalpindi on charges of conspiracy to murder — an execution that led to violent protests across the country similar to those that raged across the country Thursday.

Hopes dashed for democracy
Thursday's rally was Bhutto's first since returning to Pakistan, Musharraf having forced her to scrap a previous meeting here last month citing security fears. Hundreds of riot police manned security checkpoints at the park.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who met with Bhutto just hours before her death, called her a brave woman with a clear vision "for her own country, for Afghanistan and for the region — a vision of democracy and prosperity and peace."

Benazir Bhutto waves to supporters as she arrives for an election compaign rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. She and at least 20 others were killed as the rally ended.
Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., visiting Pakistan with Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he was just leaving his hotel room for dinner with Bhutto at her home when he got the news.

"I couldn't believe it," he told The Associated Press by phone. "Her death really dashed the hope of many here in Pakistan, and that's why there's so much disillusionment and anger being vented through these protests that are lighting up the sky tonight as people set fires all over the countryside."

One man was killed in a shootout between police and protesters in Tando Allahyar, a town 120 miles north of Karachi, Pakistan's commercial hub, said Mayor Kanwar Naveed. Four others were killed in Karachi, two were killed elsewhere in the southern Sindh province and two in Lahore, police said.

Karachi shopkeepers quickly shuttered their stores as protesters burned vehicles, a gas station and tires on the roads, said Fayyaz Leghri, a local police official. Gunmen shot and wounded two police officers, he said.

Bhutto's supporters in many towns burned banks, shops and state-run grocery stores. Some torched ruling party election offices, according to Pakistani media.

Authorities would deploy troops to stop violence if needed, said Akhtar Zamin, home minister for Sindh province.

The U.N. Security Council vigorously denounced the killing and urged "all Pakistanis to exercise restraint and maintain stability in the country."

Toxicology tests negative for Omaha gunman
Only therapeutic level of Valium found in killer’s system


OMAHA, Neb. - Only an anti-anxiety medication turned up in toxicology tests done on the body of the 19-year-old gunman who fatally wounded eight people before killing himself last month at a shopping mall.

The autopsy report on Robert Hawkins revealed diazepam in his system. The tranquilizer is better known by its market name, Valium.

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine told the Omaha World-Herald in a copyright story Tuesday that authorities sometimes "see people who have abused drugs or alcohol to give them the ability to carry out their misdeed."

"In this case," Kleine said, "it doesn't appear he had abused either." His blood revealed only therapeutic levels of the medication.

The autopsy report also said Hawkins killed himself Dec. 5 by a single shot from his assault rifle from under his chin.

Before committing suicide, Hawkins went into the Von Maur store at Westroads Mall and took an elevator up to the third floor. There he opened fire, fatally wounding eight people. Five other people were hit by bullets or bullet fragments, injuring two seriously.

Investigators will try to find out whether Hawkins had a prescription for the Valium, Kleine said.

Diazepam is often given to people who have anxiety attacks or insomnia, said Dr. Todd Stull, director of the University of Nebraska Medical Center's drug and alcohol program.

"It's a calming kind of medicine," Stull said. "A lower dose can help with anxiety."

People can get high on it, he said, but "it's not a very common addiction."

Court records and friends say Hawkins regularly smoked marijuana, but Kleine said there was no evidence of it or any other drugs in his blood.

where?

New York Times
Wednesday, January 23, 2008

January 22, 2008, 4:42 pm
The Death of Heath Ledger

By Sewell Chan

Updated, 10:17 p.m. | The actor Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday afternoon in an apartment in Manhattan, according to the New York City police. Some signs pointed to an accidental overdose or a suicide, although no note was found, police sources said. Mr. Ledger was 28.

At 3:31 p.m., according to the police, a masseuse arrived at the fourth-floor apartment of the building, at 421 Broome Street, between Crosby and Lafayette Streets in SoHo, for an appointment with Mr. Ledger. The masseuse was let in to the home by a housekeeper, who then knocked on the door of the bedroom Mr. Ledger was in. When no one answered, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened the bedroom and found Mr. Ledger naked and unconscious on a bed, with sleeping pills — both prescription medication and nonprescription — on a night table. They attempted to revive him, but he did not respond. They immediately called the authorities. As the news reports spread quickly, throngs of people gathered in the neighborhood.

The police said they did not suspect a crime. Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the office of the city’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Charles S. Hirsch, said that employees of the office were at the apartment and that an autopsy would be conducted on Wednesday. Around 6:30 p.m., city workers rolled Mr. Ledger’s body, in a black body bag on a stretcher, out of the building.

(At first, Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s deputy commissioner for public information, said that the apartment was owned by the actress Mary-Kate Olsen, but later reversed himself and said that was not the case. In a phone interview, Annette Wolf, a representative of Ms. Olsen, said, “It is not her apartment,” adding, “She does not own the apartment. She has never owned the apartment. She and her sister have an apartment in New York City but they are not in this building.” An earlier version of this article reported the erroneous detail from the police.)

Heathcliff Andrew Ledger was born on April 4, 1979, to Sally Ledger, a French teacher, and Kim Ledger, an engineer. Named for a character in Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights,” he and his older sister, Katherine, grew up in Perth, Australia; his parents were divorced when he was about 10. As a student, he joined a local theater company and appeared in a production of “Peter Pan,” which led to his being cast in children’s television programs.

Mr. Ledger’s first Hollywood film was the teenage romantic comedy “10 Things I Hate About You” (1999). He later appeared in romantic-hero roles in films like “A Knight’s Tale” (2001) and “Casanova” (2005).

But the role for which Mr. Ledger was probably best known by American audiences was in “Brokeback Mountain” (2005). The film, based on a short story by Annie Proulx about two cowboys who fall in love, won critical acclaim. Reviewing the film in The New York Times, the critic Stephen Holden wrote, “Mr. Ledger magically and mysteriously disappears beneath the skin of his lean, sinewy character. It is a great screen performance, as good as the best of Marlon Brando and Sean Penn.” Mr. Ledger was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in January 2006. (His death came on the same day that the 2007 Oscar nominations were announced.)

Mr. Ledger met the actress Michelle Williams while filming ‘’Brokeback Mountain.” They became romantically involved and moved to Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, where their comings and goings were widely noted by the celebrity press. They had a daughter, Matilda Rose, who was born on Oct. 28, 2005. The couple separated last year.

In an interview in London for an article published in November, Mr. Ledger told The Times, ‘’I feel like I’m wasting time if I repeat myself.” He said in the interview that he was not proud of his latest role, in Todd Haynes’s “I’m Not There,” in which Mr. Ledger was one of a half-dozen actors depicting the musician Bob Dylan. ‘’I feel the same way about everything I do. The day I say, ‘It’s good’ is the day I should start doing something else,” he said in the interview.

Mr. Ledger had been cast as the Joker in the latest Batman installment, “The Dark Knight,” set to be released this summer.

As news of Mr. Ledger’s death made its way across the Internet, the Police Department issued a fairly terse summary of the death: “On Tuesday, 01/22/08, at approximately 1530 hours, in the confines of the 5 precinct, police responded to 421 Broome Street and found a M/W/28 unconscious. The victim was pronounced DOA at the scene. M.E.’s office to determine the cause of death. Investigation continues.”

Calls by The Times to Mara Buxbaum, a publicist for Mr. Ledger, and Steve Alexander, the actor’s agent, were not immediately returned.

The building at 421 Broome Street was sold for $4.8 million in 1999 by Ho Hwa Properties Inc. to Red Tulip, L.L.C. Calls to a phone number listed for Junia Hissa Neiva, a Brazilian painter who is listed as an owner of Red Tulip and of the building, went to an answering machine that was full and could not accept new messages.

Julie McIntosh, a hair stylist in a SoHo salon a few doors down from the apartment building, said this afternoon that she used to see Mr. Ledger once or twice a week and had twice seen him going on walks with his young daughter. “I think it’s really sad,” Ms. McIntosh said. “He’s a really nice guy. He seemed happy.” A month ago, she said, she chatted with Mr. Ledger in front of the salon and jokingly asked him, “When are you going to come in and let me wash your hair?” Ms. McIntosh said she believed Mr. Ledger had been living in the area for several months. “He always said hello,” she said.

Outside Ms. Williams’s house in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, this evening, residents expressed shock at Mr. Ledger’s death. Elliott Puckett, an artist who lives in neighborhood, said, “That’s terrible. I used to see them with their dry cleaning and their baby. It’s really sad.”

Emily Ekman, a student who lives in Boerum Hill, said, “I knew Michelle. I’m blown away. I hope she’s O.K. She must be really upset.”

Elise Harris, who lived across the street from Ms. Williams and Mr. Ledger, said, “I’d met them. They were very nice, with their daughter. I think shock is the reaction. I didn’t even know he was on drugs, but that’s the kind of thing you don’t know unless you are in that circle. He was a nice guy, attractive, very friendly.”

A block away, at the Brooklyn Inn, the manager, Jason Furlani, said, “Obviously we’re shocked that it happened. We knew that he was in the neighborhood. I saw him around with his wife and daughter in the neighborhood, just normal folks. It’s a tragedy.”

Arizona Serial Rape Suspect Arrested, Linked to Attacks by DNA
Sunday, January 13, 2008

CHANDLER, Ariz. — A suspect in the sexual assaults of several young girls in Chandler has been arrested and police said Saturday that DNA positively links the man to the case.

Santana Batiz Aceves, 39, was booked into a Maricopa County jail in Phoenix on 25 counts of kidnapping, sexual assault and trespassing in connection with the assaults that began in June 2006, police announced at a news conference. They said the most recent attack linked to the case occurred June 8 on a 14-year-old girl.

Police had been searching for months for a man who raped four girls and attempted to assault two others in the Chandler area.

All of the victims have been girls between the ages of 12 and 15, according to authorities.

Chandler Police Chief Sherry Kiyler said Aceves is an illegal immigrant who was deported twice for drug charges in California in 1999 and 2003.

Authorities said Aceves worked as a heavy equipment operator and lived in the area of the sexual assaults for the last 18 months.

Police said all of the attacks occurred within a two-mile radius of the suspect's rented home, which is located between two junior high schools.

It was not immediately known if Aceves had legal representation yet. A person who answered the door at Aceves' home Saturday declined comment.

Kiyler said detectives working a saturation patrol Friday morning in the area of the most recent assault spotted a man who matched the description of the suspect and who was driving a white 2-door car that also matched a police description.

The man was released after being questioned, but officers later got a warrant to search his home and obtain his DNA.

He fled when they approached but was captured and the DNA obtained, Kiyler said. That DNA test came back early Saturday with a positive match for several of the sexual assaults.

"We are convinced that this suspect ... is responsible for the multiple assaults in our jurisdiction," Kiyler said. "We are relieved that our community is now a safer place."

Most of the attacks happened in the early morning hours and targeted young girls after adults in the homes had left for work.

One happened in the evening while the girl's grandparents were outside. Other attacks are possible but have not been formally attributed to the same assailant.

Police in Chandler and surrounding cities had been warning young girls and their parents about the rapist since early in 2007. Public forums were held at local schools and a reward of up to $50,000 was posted for information leading to his arrest.

Police described a careful assailant who stalked his victims and their families to identify when the young girls were most vulnerable. He would then strike quickly and apparently had his escape well planned.

so in total this guy has been deported 4 times for all times committing crimes and 3 of them felony's! What is up with that?!?!?!

sweatdrop

French President Marries Former Model
Feb. 2, 2008, 12:46 PM EST

The Associated Press

PARIS (AP) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy married former model Carla Bruni on Saturday at the Elysee Palace, the couple announced, tying the knot less than three months after they reportedly first met.

In a terse statement, the couple said only that they "were married this morning in the presence of their families in the strictest privacy." The official statement followed an announcement of the wedding several hours earlier from the official who had performed the ceremony at the presidential Elysee Palace.

"The bride wore white; she was ravishing, as usual," Francois Lebel, mayor of Paris' eighth arrondissement, or neighborhood, told Europe-1 radio. "The groom wasn't bad either."

Sarkozy, 53, and Bruni, 40, were married in the presence of about 20 close family and friends, Lebel said. He called the ceremony "a moment of family intimacy for the young newlyweds, of great simplicity and apparently a lot of affection between the spouses.

"I wished them a lot of happiness," he said.

Under French law, couples must tie the knot before a mayor to make their union official. Sarkozy was not the first French president to marry in office: Gaston Doumergue tied the knot at the Elysee Palace in 1931.

Sarkozy's openness about his private life has surprised many French, accustomed to presidents who keep their love lives under wraps.

At a news conference in January, Sarkozy revealed that the relationship was "serious" and hinted that wedding plans were in the works. But he refused to reveal the date for a wedding, saying only that France might learn about the nuptials once they had already taken place.

The couple went public with their relationship during a visit to Disneyland Paris, and they carried out their brief but highly publicized courtship in such places as the ruins of Petra, Jordan. The tabloids even showed the couple at an Egyptian beach resort, Bruni in a tiny black bikini, Sarkozy in trunks, gold chain and Ray-Ban sunglasses.

Sarkozy's approval ratings dropped during their courtship — in part, analysts say, because many older, more traditional voters were put off by his glitzy, jet-setting style.

The wedding was the third for Sarkozy, who has three children. It was the first for Bruni, an Italian-born heiress who had a major modeling career and a well-publicized love life. Bruni, now a singer, dated rockers Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton, tycoon Donald Trump and actor Vincent Perez. She has a young son, Aurelien, from a relationship with philosophy professor Raphael Enthoven.

Sarkozy could not devote the entire day to celebrations. He also was busy with a crisis in Chad, the former French colony in central Africa. As rebels penetrated Chad's capital, Sarkozy called a meeting at the Elysee Palace and spoke by telephone with Chad's president.