More information on the Dr. Ruth trial

I spent much of last week attending the trial of Michael Ruth and his father, Dr. Richard Ruth. The pair was convicted Friday of numerous charges involving recklessly writing prescriptions of Oxycodone and other narcotics, which made addicts out of patients. Space in the Saturday newspaper was tight, so not all of the story I wrote made it into print, including comments from Michael Ruth's wife. I thought she should have her say, so here is the story that included her comments.

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Richard Ruth wasn't just an old-fashioned neighborhood doctor who went the extra mile for his patients. He was a drug dealer who made money hooking people on highly addictive drugs that he prescribed, a Montgomery County jury said.

Friday evening, a jury found Ruth, 78, guilty of all 25 counts against him after 70 minutes of deliberating. The counts included nine of prescribing a controlled substance to a drug dependent person, 10 of unlawful prescription of a controlled substance, and counts of identity theft, insurance fraud and corrupt organizations.

His son Michael Ruth, 46, who worked as his father's office manager, was found guilty of six counts, including of corrupt organizations, insurance fraud and identity theft.

As the jury read their verdicts at the end of the five-day trial, Dr. Ruth, a slight-framed, balding man in a suit and tie, stood expressionless with his hands clasped and head lowered. Michael Ruth looked straight ahead, blinking as the verdicts were read. His children cried as county Judge Gary S. Silow revoked bail for both.

"He got a fair trial," said Richard Ruth's attorney, Gregory Noonan.

"I think the jury was unduly harsh in their decision on Michael," said Vincent A. Cirillo Jr., attorney for Michael Ruth.

During the proceedings, First Assistant District Attorney Kevin Steele had numerous former patients describe how easily they got their physician to write more and more prescriptions for the painkiller Oxycodone and other drugs.

Prosecutors portrayed father and son as greedy, reckless operators of the Souderton medical practice, which Richard Ruth established 50 years ago in the same Cherry Lane location where it remained until authorities shuttered it in 2011.

Defense attorneys argued that their clients were hardworking professionals who cared about helping their thousands of patients, over the years, but who were duped by a handful who lied about their need for more medications.

"We just had a patient population that was coming in and lying to us a lot," Michael Ruth testified.

The most heated exchange came Friday as Steele questioned Dr. Ruth.

When Ruth's own attorney had questioned him about the frequency with which the physician had written some prescriptions, Ruth said he wrote prescriptions to ease the pain his patients said they had.

He believed them, Ruth said, when said why they needed more medication, reasons that included loss of prescriptions and theft of pills. Some said they needed extra because they were going on vacation. Sometimes, the doctors were told by called and told that their patients were selling the medications. Dr. Ruth continued to write them prescriptions.

Steele told jurors Ruth wrote an Oxycodone prescription to a pregnant woman. He also noted that Ruth wrote prescriptions to one patient for 21,330 Oxycodone pills over 17 months and to another for 39,180 Oxycodone pills in 18 months.

"Isn't this just screaming out that these people are addicted to the medication you've been writing prescriptions for," Steele asked the doctor.

"Not to me," Ruth replied.

Michael Ruth's wife, Dawn, attended most of the trial.

As she waited for the verdicts, she said, "It's very sad to hear such negative things about such good people. They would never do what they \[prosecutors\] are accusing them of."

A short while later, she watched as deputies put handcuffs on her husband and her father-in-law, and led them away to jail.

No sentencing date was set.