DOCTOR GAINS ACQUITTAL

Jury Finds Heberle 'Was Dealing With An Impossible Population Of
Patients'

The prosecution said Dr. Paul Heberle disregarded his
patients'safety.

The jury found the pain doctor did the best he could with patients no
one else would treat.

On Monday, Erie County jurors cleared Heberle of all charges of
illegally prescribing narcotics. The verdict came after about nine
hours of deliberations that stretched over Friday and Monday in Erie
County Judge William R. Cunningham's courtroom.

Heberle, 39, a doctor of osteopathic medicine, was acquitted of 14
counts of violating state drug laws and 12 counts of Medicaid fraud.

The prosecution had withdrawn one count of each charge at some point
before the case went to the jury.

The trial, which started May 9, featured testimony from medical
experts and Heberle's former patients and their families. Heberle's
practice was at Southeast Medical Center, 1306 E. 38th St.

Juror Marci Berlin said problems with the prosecution's case surfaced
on the second day of testimony in the two-week trial.

"(Heberle) was dealing with an impossible population of patients who
no one else wanted. We all realized there are some things he could
have done differently. He did all he could do," she said.

Each day of the trial, Heberle's supporters lined the benches in the
small courtroom.

Heberle's wife, Christine, wept at the verdict. Afterward, she stood
and gave her husband a long hug.

The couple declined to comment at length Monday.

"I am just glad it is over,"Christine Heberle said.

Heberle's attorney, John Moore, called the verdict "absolutely
correct."

He said the prosecution's expert made several mistakes when he
reviewed the patients'medical records.

"He really didn't have all the information about how Dr. Heberle
interacted with some of his patients," he said.

Moore said the defense's strongest evidence was that the patients at
issue in the case were already on pain medication when they came to
see Heberle.

Many of the patients were former patients of David Klees, D.O., who
was convicted of writing illegal prescriptions in 2002. Heberle was
not in a position to just cut them off of their medications, Moore
said.

"He had to work without their past records and history and try to find
the most beneficial (treatment) without pushing them to the point
where they got more than they actually needed," he said.

Moore said the prosecution told jurors that two of Heberle's patients
died. But testimony failed to show "any link between Dr. Heberle's
treatment and the causes of those deaths," he said.

One of Heberle's other attorneys, Donald Wagner, credited the verdict
to Heberle's testimony.

The jury saw the "professional sacrifices" Heberle made. "He took a
group of people nobody else would treat," he said.

The prosecution alleged Heberle did not adhere to medical standards
when he wrote prescriptions for powerful narcotics such as fentanyl
and OxyContin for several patients. It said two of those patients died.

"The crime comes in blatant disregard for safety in the way he
prescribed these drugs," Senior Deputy State Attorney General Doug
Wright told jurors in his closing argument.

Wright said such cases can be difficult to prove in
court.

"You are dealing with a standard-of-care argument. You have
conflicting testimony from experts. It is difficult to discern what is
the appropriate standard of care," he said.

Wright accepted the jury's verdict.

"We feel we had a full hearing," he said.

"We worked very hard for the two weeks bringing a case we felt needed
to be brought before a jury's consideration. Although we were
disappointed in the verdict that they reached, we have absolutely no
doubt they worked very hard in reaching their decision and paid very
close attention," he said.