Dear Mr. Dietrich,
Having followed the details of the Doctors investigation, trial, and resulting motions, I have always been shocked about how one sided the press coverage has been on this case (until I read your article Bitter Pills and John Tierneys Op Ed piece). It is such a travesty of justice that the prosecution utilized its press connections to publicize these allegations. The truth is just so much worse than what the paper makes out.
While it is true that the governments lead witness recanted all her testimony in hand written correspondence between her boyfriend and her prior to the trial, it is equally disturbing that the correspondences portray a prosecutor, Mary M. Houghton, actively involved in putting forth false testimony. I was saddened to see that Judge Lancaster gave Ms. Houghton and Ms. Buchanan a pass twice on this trial. Something truly stinks here.
I realize many who do not follow this case do not believe the allegations the Drs legal team has raised; however I ask them to look at the facts of the case. All five patient witnesses changed their original testimony to investigators only after each one was in trouble with the law. In response to these changes in testimony, the Assistant US Attorney in charge of the Drs case also oversaw all the prosecutions of the witnesses. Each witness was compensated with either a dismissal of the charges and/or no jail time for multiple felony charges they plead guilty to.
Now I realize that this is probably the norm in these types of cases; however the fact that neither Ms. Buchanan nor Ms. Houghton have ever sought to investigate the lead witness who outright lied in the courtroom is disturbing. The fact that all five witnesses are now suing the doctor for malpractice for not treating the ailments, which required these medications, is also disturbing in the fact the witnesses denied these ailments were real in the criminal courtroom.
In the courtroom testimony, the five witnesses for the prosecution admitted to lying about their symptoms and concealing information from the Dr. in order to get the medications. Now if the accusations were true, why would the lies be required?
In the end, I am shocked by this case and the filings. The US Attorney keeps making this slight of hand. In the appeals arguments before the third circuit, the US Attorney said the case had nothing to do with sex, yet in her response to the second appeal, she argues the sex accusations as a means of upholding the conviction. This double talk is just wacky and no one seems to care.
As for Dr. Rottschaefer, he was a well respected member of the Oakmont and Plum community. It is a very sad event that thirty years of involvement in the community, a clean record, and extensive work within medicine means nothing against a unjust prosecution based on the accusations of five known liars compensated by individuals in the prosecution who have obvious conflicts of interest. I just hope that the five criminals let go by the prosecutor do not inflict more harm on our community.
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