A federal jury started deliberating Tuesday afternoon in a case against a northwest Colorado doctor accused of giving pills to addicts who died or “became zombies.”
But defense attorneys say Dr. Joel Miller of Craig only prescribed drugs to chronic pain patients in good faith, according to different views presented during closing arguments Tuesday.
Miller is accused of 35 counts of prescribing controlled drugs without a medical purpose and causing death by prescribing drugs without a purpose.
In closing arguments, prosecutor Peter McNeilly said Miller fed addictions of so-called “drug seekers” despite warnings that they were virtual drug zombies that committed bizarre acts that endangered their own lives.
Miller continued prescribing pain medications to one patient even though she was “coming apart at the seams,” and to another woman whose thinking was so clouded she didn’t know where her infant child was, McNeilly said.
The doctor wrote a large number of prescriptions for Shelly Volkmar, 44, despite repeated warnings from her family that she was addicted and indications she was doctor shopping, he said. Volkmar died with 10 times the therapeutic level of drugs in her system, McNeilly said.
Likewise, 53-year-old Philip Bachle died of an overdose after Miller overprescribed pain medications to him, McNeilly said.
The prosecutor repeatedly made the point that there can’t be a legitimate medical purpose if the medical care endangers the health, safety and life of a patient.
But defense attorney was a conscientious physician who was never motivated by greed as prosecutors claimed.
“This is a case about a person doing his best, sometimes in difficult circumstances,” Goodreid said.
He said in every instance Miller’s patients came to him with pre-existing drug addictions.
“There is no evidence any of his patients got addictions from Miller,” he said.
Goodreid said the government’s evidence of money laundering and fraud didn’t make any sense.
Prosecutors had accused him of overbilling because of greed even though Miller took Medicaid patients at a fraction of the payment he got from privately insured patients.
“There’s no money in it,” Goodreid said.
If anything, there was evidence that Miller underbilled Medicaid for patient care, he said.
Goodreid’s co-counsel Peter Bornstein told jurors that Miller operated in the utmost of good faith to eleviate the pain and suffering of patients.
Bornstein pointed out that other doctors gave Miller’s patients the same drugs that he had, yet their work was not questioned by the government.
“Why is there no criticism against the doctors who continued to give these patients the same drugs after Dr. Miller stopped seeing them,” Bornstein said. “This is a case in which the government has gone too far…You don’t criminalize judgment calls.”
In rebuttal arguments prosecutor Jaime Peña said the defense case was completely structured around the concept of Miller acting in good faith, but Miller “lied and lied and lied.”
“There is no good faith in this case,” Peña said. “He said nobody got early refills from him. But ladies and gentlemen of the jury everybody got early refills from Dr. Miller. …This guy is not an honest guy.”
