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Doctor pleads not guilty in prescription case; bail cut
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More from CourtsA North Hollywood doctor pleaded not guilty to conspiring to illegally distribute painkillers during a hearing Wednesday in Ventura County Superior Court.
Earlier, Judge Kevin McGee lowered the bail for Dr. Bernard Bass from $1 million to $500,000 after his lawyer, Michael Nasatir, argued that it was set 20 times higher than the court bail schedule of $50,000.
Nasatir also told the judge that his client has no prior criminal history other than two DUI arrests in 1978 and 1980. He said the doctor closed his practice and patients are being referred elsewhere.
Nasatir, of Santa Monica, said his client's arrest "has gotten his attention."
Bass stood inside a metal holding cage in the courtroom while his lawyer pleaded with the judge to lower the bail.
After the hearing, Nasatir told reporters, "I am proud to represent Dr. Bass. You've heard one side of the story. We will present our side in court. We will not do it in the public. ... Dr. Bass has made some mistakes."
He said Bass has been practicing medicine for 30 years. Nasatir declined to elaborate on Bass' mistakes.
Nasatir said he's received letters of support from 200 of Bass' patients, and 70 have already been sent to the court.
"This is another of the ongoing tension between the issuance of restricted drugs and pain management," he said.
Bass' wife, Stephanie, who was visibly upset by the court proceedings, said her husband is a good and decent man. "His patients really need him and really care about him," she said.
Bass, a 61-year-old pain management specialist who sees patients from Los Angeles and Ventura counties, was charged with writing 406 prescriptions in the past two months without a license. Bass surrendered his license to prescribe to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in May after Ventura County Sheriff's Department detectives searched his office and home, seizing about $1.7 million in cash and assets.
Outside the courtroom, Senior Deputy District Attorney Ryan Wright said Bass' two bank accounts have been frozen.
"They are being looked at by investigators to see if the money in there is from legitimate or illegitimate" sources, Wright said.
McGee scheduled a hearing Monday to determine what to do with the accounts.
Bass, arrested Thursday at his home in Burbank, also is being investigated for potential homicide charges related to the alleged overdose deaths of several patients, according to a court document filed by the Sheriff's Department.
The investigation centers on the deaths of six people from Ventura County since 2005, according to Wright. He said four of the deaths happened this year, with the last one occurring in April.
Posted by ASH on July 24, 2008 at 11:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I have been a patient of Dr. Bass for four years. I suffer from chronic pain, including Scoliosis, Fibromyalgia, torn ligaments and chronic pain from car accidents.
Dr. Bass is the only Doctor who has helped me gain relief from my ailments that have plagued me since I was eleven years old. I am now 27 and have tried to find another Doctor as kind and helpful as him and it is virtually impossible and I now suffer constantly.
Not only can I say with confidence that he is a good Doctor but he is also a good man who provides people with low income relief and ability to do their jobs. He also acts as a friend and general practioner for those like me who can't afford to go to other Doctors when I am ill from colds, flu and anything else in his range of knowledge.
I also happen to know one of the recent males who tragically died and I know for a fact that he was abusing Dr. Bass' care and was drinking and doing cocaine the night he died. He did not even take the opiates prescribed, he sold them all for drug money, keeping only the sleeping pills. His drug and alcohol abuse in conjunction with Ambien was the cause of his death and there was no way Dr. Bass could have known that. People take advantage of Dr. Bass and it is not his fault. Now people like me and many of his other patients who are in chronic pain are suffering, as I am sure the Doctor and his loved ones are, because he has been charged with these unfair claims. He told me what the DEA did when they came to his house, which included breaking his housekeeper's nose and drawing obscene pictures of genitals on his young children's drawings among other things that to me sound insanely illegal.
A Doctor cannot monitor what a patient does when not in his office but he asked questions to make sure and was obviously lied to by people who were abusing the system. Must we all suffer because of these people who abused Dr. Bass' trust?
This is unjust and unfair and Dr. Bass should be let free to return to his practice as soon as possible. He is the only Doctor who didn't rush me in and out of his office, even when the waiting room was full. He cares about his patients as we do him and this is completely unfair.
Free Dr. Bass and do it soon, he is a good man and a good Doctor. I send my prayers to him and his family in this unjust situation.
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