By Joe Pinchot
Herald Staff Writer
FARRELL
December 25, 2007 07:07 pm
—
A Farrell dentist is asking that drug charges filed against her be dismissed because she is the target of “selective and vindictive prosecution” by the state Attorney General’s office.
Dr. Tamara J. Lowe, 47, of 1801 Roemer Blvd., was charged a year ago with three counts of insurance fraud and one count each of acquiring a controlled substance by fraud and conspiracy to commit acquiring a controlled substance by fraud.
Officials said Dr. Lowe, whose dental office is at 919 Sharon-New Castle Road in Farrell, would call prescriptions into local pharmacies for employees, patients, her fiancé and others, and she and the employees would pick them up and pay for the drugs using their own prescription insurance. The drugs included Vicodin and Vicoprofen, which contain Hydrocodone.
Dr. Lowe would reimburse employees for the co-pays and take possession of the pills, authorities said.
Dr. Lowe’s attorney, Joshua D. Lock of Harrisburg, said in a motion filed last week that Dr. Lowe suffers from neuro-sarcoidosis, a chronic disorder of the central nervous system that involves inflammation and abnormal tissue deposits.
She was diagnosed with the disorder in March 2003, after having symptoms such as loss of hearing, blurred vision, partial paralysis and joint, muscle and head pain in 2002.
Dr. Lowe could have obtained pain medication through her doctor, but was “ashamed” and “reluctant” to do so, so she did not, Lock said.
Instead, she wrote prescriptions in others’ names, including the names of family members and friends, Lock said. Employees picked up the drugs at pharmacies, using their own insurance coverage, and gave the drugs to Dr. Lowe, he said.
“Dr. Lowe’s prescription practice was done solely to avoid disclosure of her use of these drugs, and not to provide others with narcotics,” Lock said.
Dr. Lowe’s use of the drugs did not affect her ability to practice dentistry, he said.
Dr. Lowe began discontinuing her use of the drugs in 2006 and started attending an outpatient treatment program that she still participates in.
Dr. Lowe is willing to enter a plea as long as it does not lead to her dental license being suspended; however, the AG’s office has pressed for a plea agreement that includes a guilty plea to one of the controlled substance charges, which would result in a 10-year suspension.
According to Lock, the AG’s office has said there is precedent for how it has handled similar cases, and it will not deviate from that.
“That assertion ... is inaccurate,” Lock said.
Lock said he can present information that doctors facing similar charges have been allowed to plea to charges that did not result in license suspensions, and to enter drug courts and Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition programs.
Although Senior Deputy Attorney General Scott Robinette has been the public face of the AG’s office in court proceedings and filings, Lock said Chief Deputy Julia K. Hearthway is calling the shots.
Ms. Hearthway’s “questionable conduct” had included the inaccurate assertion about how the AG’s office handles cases similar to Dr. Lowe’s; her refusal to meet with Lock and Dr. Lowe’s previous attorney; and her “cursory and unexplained dismissal” of information presented by the defense, Lock said.
Among the pieces of information Lock believes warrants a favorable plea deal is the “dearth” of dentists serving rural and minority populations, and of Mercer County dentists participating in Medicaid.
Dr. Lowe has made an “extraordinary financial sacrifice” to practice in her hometown, including turning down an offer to practice in Washington at a salary 10 times what she is making now, Lock said.
The AG’s refusal to stray from its plea offer because Dr. Lowe used employees who also were charged is “either pretext or evidence of lack of familiarity” of Dr. Lowe’s case and how the prosecutions of others similarly charged have been handled, Lock said.
Lock concluded that “decisions in this case are being based on impermissible factors such as race and gender.”
A motion for dismissal has been expected for some time, and Robinette has said he expects to oppose whatever motions Dr. Lowe files.
An 11 a.m. Jan. 3 hearing has been set before Mercer County Common Pleas Judge Christopher J. St. John.
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