The Associated Press State & Local Wire

February 3, 2008 Sunday 3:49 PM GMT

Former psychiatrist gets jail term for illegal prescriptions

SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL

LENGTH: 110 words

DATELINE: STROUDSBURG Pa.

A former psychiatrist from East Stroudsburg is sentenced to six to 18 months in county jail.
Prosecutors say Harold Pascal illegally prescribed potentially addictive drugs in an overcrowded, poorly run office. Pascal was charged in 2006. He later surrendered his medical license and pleaded no contest to two counts of illegal medical prescriptions and one count of Medicaid fraud.
At Friday’s sentencing in Monroe County Court, former co-workers and patients described a different sort of person than prosecutors. They say he was a professional, compassionate doctor who served the community for 26 years.
Information from: Pocono Record, http://www.poconorecord.com/