FEDERAL PROSECUTOR ASKS JUDGE TO ORDER PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT FOR
SAGINAW DOCTOR FACING DRUG CHARGES

BAY CITY -- Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to order a
psychologist evaluation for a Saginaw County doctor facing drug charges.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Shane N. Waller requested the assessment for
Ruth A. Buck after Buck's attorney, Carl J. Marlinga, filed a similar
request indicating he was considering an insanity defense.

Marlinga, of Clinton Township, has said Buck "intently believes that
every prescription she wrote was fully justified by the patient's
condition," court records show.

Among the prescriptions in question is an order for marijuana that
Buck wrote for an undercover agent who allegedly told her he had no
medical complaints, according to court files.

Buck, who remains jailed without bond, was charged in June 2010 with
32 counts of unlawfully distributing controlled substances. While free
on bond in April, Buck was again arrested and charged in a separate
file with aiding and abetting the distribution of marijuana.

In a motion filed May 5, Marlinga has told the court that, if the
prescriptions were "medically incorrect," Buck could have a
psychological or emotional condition making her "unable to appreciate
that her conduct was wrongful."

U.S. District Judge Thomas L. Ludington ruled that if Buck "would like
to be examined by a physician of her choice, she is fee to do so"
providing she pays for it herself.

Waller's motion, filed Friday, asks four a court-ordered examination
"in light of defendant's potential insanity defense."

If Ludington approves Waller's request, the government will pay for an
evaluation conducted by Dr. Craig A. Lemmen of the Michigan Department
of Community Health, Center for Forensic Psychiatry.

Waller also asked the judge to push back Buck's trial dates to allow
more time to prepare for trial.

Court records do not say when Ludington is likely to rule on Waller's
motion.

Buck's original 32 charges stemmed from allegations that, while
practicing out of offices in Thomas Township between January 2006 and
July 2009, she prescribed more than 1.5 million doses of painkillers
and anti-anxiety medications such as Vicodin, OxyContin, Xanax,
morphine, methadone and Dilaudid.

In the second file, Buck is accused of certifying medical marijuana
use, for patients who did not qualify under the Michigan Medical
Marihuana Act, from her office at Mid-Michigan Medical Marijuana
Clinic, 2137 Warwick in Saginaw.