Dr. Bauer's case argued in federal appeals court

PORT CLINTON — Attorneys for an imprisoned pain doctor argued with federal prosecutors last week before the Sixth Circuit U.S. Appeals Court, apparently setting the stage for a ruling soon on his conviction. Dr. William "Bill" Bauer, 86, is serving a five-year prison term in a minimum security prison in Morgantown, West Virginia, after being convicted of multiple charges in July 2021 over allegations that he overprescribed pain medications and committed fraud on federal health care programs by not following good medical practices. A federal jury in Toledo convicted Bauer of 76 counts of distribution of controlled substances and 25 counts of health care fraud. Before his arrest, Bauer lived in Port Clinton and maintained a practice in Sandusky. Judges at the Cincinnati appellate court said they would expedite a ruling, suggesting that a ruling might come in weeks rather than months. Much of the discussion was whether the instructions to the jury deciding the case remain lawful in the wake of last year's Ruan v. United States ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. The court voted 9-0 to overturn convictions against doctors in cases similar to Bauer's. Justice Stephen Breyer wrote that prosecutors must show the defendant "knowingly or intentionally" acted in an unauthorized manner. An audio recording of the 40 minutes of oral arguments records one of the judges remarking that the instructions in Bauer's case are "pretty hard to square with Ruan." Cleveland attorney Orville Edward Stifel, representing Bauer, said there's no evidence Bauer was running a pill mill or trying to hide what he did. Bauer's views on treating pain were widely known. He simply took on many patients who suffered chronic pain and prescribed them drugs that would ease their suffering, Stifel said. "A lot of these people were suicidal when they came to Dr. Bauer," Stifel said. "He kept them alive." Stifel also argued that the trial judge, U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary, unfairly prevented a dozen defense witnesses from testifying on Bauer's behalf. All were prepared to testify that what Bauer did was within the standard of care, Stifel said. "Ball game over. The judge has to let the jury hear that," Stifel contended. Assistant U.S. attorney Laura McMullen Ford, of Cleveland, while conceding that the jury instructions likely would have been worded differently in the wake of Ruan, said the convictions should be allowed to stand. The jurors were told that if Bauer acted in good faith, they can't convict them, Ford said. No reasonable jury would have reached a different verdict, she contended. Bauer ignored warning signs, such as the refusal of some local pharmacies to fill his prescriptions and reports by police that some of the pain pills apparently were being diverted to nonmedical uses, she said. "You can't escape criminal liability by ignoring the obvious," Ford said. One of the judges asked Stifel why Bauer's attorneys didn't file a motion to keep him out of prison until the appeal is decided. That's a "remarkable omission," the judge said.