ORLANDO PSYCHIATRIST SUES SENTINEL OVER OVERDOSE SERIES

ORLANDO, Fla. - A psychiatrist sued the Orlando Sentinel, its parent
company and two reporters Wednesday over articles he claims falsely
linked medication he prescribed to the overdose deaths of at least 11
people.

Dr. Michael Gutman said stories published in November falsely claim he
bilked Medicaid through his prescriptions, and those prescriptions
killed people. In the stories, Gutman is quoted as saying he did
nothing wrong.

Gutman, in his lawsuit filed in Orange County Court, said that two
months after the stories were published his request for a correction
and retraction was ignored.

"The Orlando Sentinel concocted, manufactured, cooked up an OxyContin
expose," Gutman said.

Gutman, a specialist in pain management, said his reputation was
damaged enough that he has not been hired as an expert witness in two
years.

"Dr. Gutman worked many years to build his business and it was
unfairly and unjustly sabotaged by the Orlando Sentinel," Gutman's
attorney, Madison McClellan, said in a statement.

Listed as defendants are the Sentinel; its Chicago-based owner Tribune
Co.; Tribune Publishing; and reporters Rene Stutzman of the Sentinel
and Fred Schulte of the Fort Lauderdale-based South Florida
Sun-Sentinel, which also reported the series.

"We will take whatever steps necessary to aggressively defend the
lawsuit," said Sentinel spokeswoman Ashley Allen, who refused further
comment.