HARRISBURG – A Berks County podiatrist was arrested on charges that he was fraudulently writing and obtaining prescriptions for his personal use.
Attorney General Tom Corbett identified the defendant as Stuart F. Deitcher, D.P.M, 46, with a last known address of Reading.
“Prescription drug abuse does not discriminate,” Corbett said. “Drug abuse can affect all ages, races, and income brackets. People need to understand that because a medication is prescribed by a man or woman in a white coat, does not mean that it has no harmful side-effects if not taken properly.”
Corbett said evidence of Deitcher’s alleged illegal activity was placed before a statewide grand jury, which recommended the charges filed against him.
According to the grand jury, on Nov. 14, 2006, agents from the Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotics Investigation were contacted by the Drug Enforcement Administration about a complaint they received from a Green Hills Manor employee regarding Dr. Deitcher’s behavior.
Corbett said the grand jury revealed that Deitcher was observed to be acting out-of-character and that he moved at a slow pace, appeared to be falling asleep while treating patients and dropped objects repeatedly.
Additionally, the grand jury found that Deitcher had difficulty walking and standing, recognizing staff members, working on residents’ toenails, and writing patient notes. Deitcher was also slurring his speech, walking unsteadily, had constricted pupils, was dazed and confused, and was unable to perform his functions as a podiatrist.
Corbett said on Nov. 17, 2006, BNI agents executed a search warrant at Deitcher’s office. Agents found that 200 tablets of the painkiller hydrocodone and 100 tablets of the sedative Ambien were delivered to Deitcher two days prior to the search. However, the inventory showed that approximately 118 hydrocodone tablets and approximately 83 Ambien tablets remained with no record of the drugs being dispensed to patients.
Corbett said that on Nov. 17, 2006, following the search of his office, Deitcher voluntarily surrendered his DEA registration.
The grand jury revealed that between 2002 and May 2006, Deitcher allegedly prescribed large amounts of hydrocodone for himself and in the name of at least one of his office staff members. On at least 100 occasions, Deitcher prescribed hydrocodone products for himself through Penn Pharmacy.
Corbett said Deitcher or a staff member picked up the prescription from the pharmacy. When Deitcher wrote a prescription for a member of his office staff, the employee picked up the hydrocodone prescription and then gave the medication to Deitcher for his own use.
Additionally, Deitcher ordered hydrocodone directly from Darby Medical Supply Company and other supply companies on a regular basis from 2002 through 2006.
The grand jury found that between 2002 and 2006, Deitcher received more than 39,500 dosage units of hydrocodone from medical supply companies. There is no record that Deitcher dispensed the medication to his patients, and the charges allege that the hydrocodone was for his own personal use.
According to the grand jury, Deitcher received approximately 8,400 dosage units of hydrocodone products in 2002; approximately 8,100 dosage units in 2003; 6,300 dosage units in 2004; 10,600 dosage units in 2005; and 6,100 dosage units through June 2006.
Corbett said Deitcher’s medical license was suspended by the State Board of Podiatry on Nov. 22, 2006.
Deitcher is charged with one count each obtaining a controlled substance by misrepresentation or fraud, dispensing or prescribing to a drug dependant person, prescribing outside accepted treatment principles, failure to keep required records, and furnishing fraudulent material information in records required to be kept.
Deitcher was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Michael L. Leonardziak and released on $50,000 unsecured bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 27, 2007.
The case will be prosecuted in Berks County by Senior Deputy Attorney General Lawrence Cherba of the Attorney General’s Drug Strike Force Section.
Corbett thanked the Pennsylvania Department of State and the DEA for their help in the investigation.