Judge Drops Felony Drug Charge Against Doctor

A judge Tuesday dismissed felony drug charges against a prominent Poway physician.

Dr. Robert Lee Dougherty Jr., president of the Palomar College Board of Trustees, smiled as he walked out of Municipal Court after Judge Joan Weber ruled that he did not break the law.

Prosecutors charged Dougherty in April with prescribing large quantities of potent drugs for his roommate. In one month alone, Dougherty prescribed 1,280 pills to Lance Scott, including narcotics, sedatives and appetite suppressants.

“There’s no question there were excessive prescriptions in this case,” Weber said. But she said the doctor did not show the gross misconduct required for criminal prosecution.

For physicians to break the law, they must prescribe drugs to people who do not need them, defense attorney Thomas Warwick said.

Medical records show that Scott, a Vietnam veteran and retired San Diego police officer, suffers from severe pain and sleeping and weight-control problems.

Dr. Alex Denes, an internal medicine specialist from Hemet, testified Monday that the large amount of drugs Scott received did not have a legitimate medical purpose.

“Just the sheer quantity is staggering,” said Denes, who noted that Scott was prescribed more than 30 pills a day in January.

But the judge noted that Denes disputed only the amount and combination of the drugs prescribed, not whether Scott’s medical problems warranted the use of Demerol, Percocet and Nembutal.

Weber also said the case could have had a “chilling effect” on doctors who might be second-guessed by prosecutors and bureaucrats.

“I’m delighted it’s all over,” Dougherty said after the case was dismissed. “I think at some point the doctors in this state are going to have to get together . . . to make sure this type of thing doesn’t happen again.”

Rhea Babcock, a special agent with the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement who collected much of the evidence used against Dougherty, said the findings will be presented to the Medical Board of California.