Patients, residents rally around Longmore

Everywhere one went in town this past week, all the talk was about Dr. Wayne Longmore’s arrest on prescription drug distribution charges, and the closing of his Woodstock’s Walk In Doctor’s Office for the second time in nine years.

What was being talked about ranged from a lot of recounting of the doctor’s belief that Vicodin was a much less troublesome drug for people in pain than much of what was being prescribed these days, to the fact that this was all happening just as the U.S. Supreme Court, and nation, was weighing in on healthcare, and ways to deal with those not carrying insurance. And almost all was being reflected in the many letters flowing to our offices, as well as via a variety of e-mail chains.

“Warm, caring, experienced conscientious, trustworthy, honest,” were some of the words bandied about in description of Dr. Longmore. “Patron saint of the uninsured,” “filled a need,” “thoughtful doctor,” and “mensch,” were among dozens of other statements.

Dr. Longmore called Woodstock Times on Tuesday, April 3 and spoke about the charges against him, and his defense costs, with having had to hire attorneys for both the criminal charges being heard in U.S. District Court, Northern Division, and before the state Department of Health, to which he surrendered his medical license for the duration of the case.

Longmore said he had “established a legal defense fund under my name at TD Bank” in Woodstock. He said those wishing to contribute can just drop in and make a deposit. He estimated that he’ll need $25,000 for his defense.

Asked if there was any timetable he could cite, he said simply that “things are just proceeding. It’s going to take some months…”

Longmore added that he hasn’t had any response from doctors, nurses, physicians assistants or nurse practitioners who could keep his office open, but wants any professional who would be interested in staffing his office to call his attorney, David Gruenberg, at 518-274-7252.

Calls to several Woodstockers who had been talking about putting together a benefit to help with those legal costs yielded no concrete results, as yet. A private gathering was set to take place among several friends next Wednesday, we were told, but nothing that could be publicized yet. In fact, no one was sure, as yet, whether a benefit was the best thing to do.

During Dr. Longmore’s troubles with the Medical Society of New York, and then the NYS Department of Health throughout most of 2003 and much of 2004, a benefit was held at the Woodstock Community Center and efforts made to draw in outside help from the medical community, including a plea on behalf of the Woodstock Walk-In Doctor’s Office by Patch Adams, the radical hippie doctor memorialized in a film of the same name starring Robin Williams. He surrendered his medical license for a year and a half at the time, and then practiced under supervision of the Committee for Physician’s Health until 2010.

Meanwhile, a conversation with a local dentist practicing at Bouverie Dental outside the town yielded much about how many in the medical community have long seen problems with those who practice medicine in Woodstock. Or from the town. But after telling stories about having had to fire dentists for writing too many Quaalude prescriptions during the 1970s and 1980s, as well as other stories about the community’s lust for mood-quieting drugs, the dentist said he still wanted to stand by Dr. Longmore.

“He seemed to be a strong doctor,” he said, requesting several times that his name not be used. “And I believe he was just doing what he thought was best.”

Closing is a ‘loss’

“This might not mean anything, but it’s on my mind. When I didn’t have insurance I went to Dr. Wayne for my allergy meds and also pills for flying. I used to take Xanax for flying, but he switched me to Klonopin. It’s a controlled substance that he said is like Xanax but moves slower through the system. He prescribed me a whole bottle of 20 in 2009 and I still have 12 left…He was the person who helped me with my fear of flying, recommending books and internet references,” noted Times education writer Lisa Childers of her own experience with Dr. Longmore. “Where’s everyone going to go now I wonder?”

Mitchell Langbert, the Olive political observer best known for trying to start a local chapter of the Tea Party a few years back, also commended the doctor this past week.

“Dr. Longmore is a fine physician — one of the finest who has treated me. Second, a reasonably priced practice like Dr. Longmore’s, which does not rely on insurance, contributes to the community. Its closing is a loss. Third, his federal persecutors contribute nothing to the public good on any level. They do not heal, they do not make the community safe, and they do not protect the community’s morals,” wrote Langbert. “A nation that imprisons men like Dr. Longmore is not free.”

Calls to David Gruenberg, Dr. Longmore’s attorney for his criminal charges, revealed that nothing has happened with his criminal charges in the past week, beyond the lawyer’s request for evidence materials.

A call to Deborah Young, who is handling the doctor’s Department of Health case, was also unanswered as of press time, with a promise that we would get an outline for the department’s processing procedure by next week’s paper.

“It’s going to be a process,” was all each would say.++