On witness stand, one doctor accuses another of dealing drugs
IT'S A TRIAL that has featured an interesting cast of witnesses: strippers, members of a motorcycle club, an FBI special agent.
IT'S A TRIAL that has featured an interesting cast of witnesses: strippers, members of a motorcycle club, an FBI special agent.
And on Tuesday, in the case of U.S. v. William J. O'Brien III, the latest to testify was a fellow physician.
O'Brien, 51, a former Democratic candidate for Bucks County coroner who is serving as his own attorney, is accused of 14 counts of drug and related charges from allegedly running a pill mill with the help of the Pagans Motorcycle Club.
Stephen Thomas, a physician who is an expert witness for the prosecution, contended that on numerous occasions O'Brien prescribed painkillers without enough medical examination, and often gave patients dosages that were too high.
One of the patients to whom O'Brien prescribed painkillers, Patrick Treacy, was not in court Tuesday, but his name was on documents introduced as evidence.
Thomas - noting that several of the medical forms passed between O'Brien and Treacy were blank or barely filled out - repeated several times that he believed O'Brien was dealing drugs.
"This is clearly a joke," Thomas testified about a record of a March 2012 visit. "And it's clear Mr. Treacy is treating this visit as a joke."
After Assistant U.S. Attorney David Troyer finished questioning Thomas, O'Brien spent most of the afternoon cross-examining him.
At one point, O'Brien asked Judge Nitza Quiñones Alejandro to strike Thomas' testimony from the record, saying he did not appear to know the full scope of the indictments or investigation by the FBI. Quiñones Alejandro denied the request.
Thomas often seemed amused as O'Brien asked him questions.
"You find this funny, Doctor?" O'Brien asked.
"I find parts of this amusing, yes," Thomas replied.
O'Brien expressed concern that Thomas was biased against him.
"You're not a cop, are you?" he asked him at one point.
"No, I'm a physician," Thomas replied.
Madison West, a spokeswoman for O'Brien who is attending the trial, said O'Brien continues to fight the charges about a month after the trial began.
"He really is doing an amazing job," she said. "He's focused, he's committed . . . How ever this is all going to unfold, I don't know. But he is a doctor of 20 years of medicine and has treated patients" well.
O'Brien has been jailed without bail since January 2015. Thomas is expected to continue testifying Wednesday.
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