FORMER OROVILLE DOCTOR AVOIDS JAIL

An Oroville doctor whose license was revoked after he was allegedly caught
selling prescription narcotics out of his home drew a 30-day suspended
sentence Monday.

Robert I. Kerwood, 80, had earlier pleaded no contest to one felony count
of selling prescription painkillers to undercover agents for the California
Medical Board. Eight additional counts were dismissed.

Taking into account his age and declining health, Butte County Superior
Court Judge Stephen Benson Monday placed the former physician on three
years probation rejecting a probation officer's recommendation to also
impose a one-month jail term.

Kerwood, a general practitioner and surgeon since the mid-1950s, had his
license revoked, effective June 23, following the undercover sting.

Two medical board agents posing as patients reportedly paid Kerwood $65
each in exchange for writing them prescriptions over a three-month period
from his Oroville home for a broad range of narcotic painkillers including
Vicodin, Soma, Norco, Diazapam and Klenapin.

According to court records, the doctor claimed the cash payments were for
"office visits," though deputy district attorney Michael Candela said the
undercover officers were never examined by the doctor.

The criminal charges reportedly stemmed from a complaint by a confidential
informant.

According to a pre-sentence report to the court, Kerwood and his wife had
moved to Oroville in 1993. He had worked both at the Oroville Family Health
Clinic and the Berry Creek Clinic.

After the latter facility closed, Kerwood worked as a physician for the
California Department of Corrections. He reportedly had been practicing
medicine out of his home since 2003.

During an interview with his probation officer, Kerwood was quoted as
saying he didn't feel he had committed a crime, "especially a crime against
humanity."

"When someone is in pain, I should be able to alleviate the pain," he said.

He described many of his patients as "drug addicts and alcoholics" whom he
had known for years.

Because he knew their ailments, Kerwood told the probation officer he did
not feel it necessary to examine them each time he issued a prescription.

Though the former physician added that he had "no way to monitor" what his
patients did with their medications, if he suspected someone of "abusing or
selling" the medicine, he said he would prescribe less to them.