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By BRETT MARCY [email protected]
Tuesday, March 09, 2004     Page: 1A

THE WRONG NAME was published Tuesday under a front page photo about the
criminal case surrounding the death of Kimberly Strohecker. We apologize for
the error.
   

HARRISBURG – A Hazleton chiropractor who pleaded guilty to mail fraud last
year in connection with the death of one of her patients will spend 18 months
in federal prison for defrauding Medicaid, a judge ruled Monday.
    Joanne M. Gallagher, 44, stood stoically as U.S. District Court Judge
Christopher Conner delivered her sentence, but her husband, four children and
dozens of her supporters could not hold back their tears.
   
Meanwhile, seated on the other side of the courtroom, the victim’s mother,
Dawn Strohecker, wept uncontrollably while being consoled by family and
friends.
   
The decision comes almost five years after the death of Strohecker’s
daughter, Kimberly Strohecker, a 30-year-old Hegins Township woman with severe
epilepsy who died April 29, 1999, after following the advice of Gallagher to
stop taking her anti-seizure medication.
   
Gallagher, of the Degenhart Chiropractic Health Center, pleaded guilty last
July to one count of mail fraud several days after a mistrial was declared in
her federal trial in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of
Pennsylvania. She also had been charged with multiple counts of Medicaid fraud
in connection with Kimberly Strohecker’s death, but those charges were
dropped.
   
In his decision, Conner said Gallagher “abused her position of trust,” both
with Kimberly Strohecker and the Medicaid program, when she treated Strohecker
for her epilepsy and fraudulently billed Medicaid for the treatment, knowing
Medicaid does not cover treatment for epilepsy by a chiropractor.
   
“The defendant enjoyed the confidence of the Medicaid program and she
abused that confidence,” Conner said.
   
Still, the 18-month prison sentence was lighter than the two-year maximum
allowed under federal sentencing guidelines. Conner said he believed Gallagher
“expressed remorse for Miss Strohecker’s death and admitted her own
culpability,” so he decided on the lesser sentence.
   
Also helping Gallagher’s case were dozens of patients, friends and family
members who traveled from as far as Spain, Canada and Chicago to show their
support. The courtroom was packed with nearly 150 people, and dozens of others
were left locked out of the room for lack of space.
   
Several people took the witness stand to attest to Gallagher’s good
character and her ability to help other epileptic patients. Among them was
Michael Daly, a New York City police officer and attorney whose 4-year-old
daughter received treatment from Gallagher for her epilepsy.
   
“Dr. Joanne didn’t make us any predictions. She didn’t make us any
promises, except for one. She promised us she would do the best she could for
our daughter,” Daly said. “I credit Dr. Joanne with the lion’s share of the
progress my daughter has made up to today.”
   
Gallagher’s supporters painted a picture of a woman dedicated to her
family, her church, her family and her patients.
   
But Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gordon Zubrod and Mary Catherine Frye
introduced their own witnesses to characterize Gallagher as a manipulative
woman who purposely misled her patients to believe she could cure them of
epilepsy and other serious ailments. One of their key witnesses was Dawn
Strohecker, who appearing frail and spiritually broken, could barely utter a
sentence without bursting into tears.
   
Dawn Strohecker told the judge how she tried to stop her daughter from
following Gallagher’s advice and urged her to continue with the drug regimen
prescribed by her medical doctors. She said she also tried to convince
Gallagher to stop treating her daughter.
   
“I called the clinic and told her not to see my daughter, not to ever see
my daughter,” Dawn Strohecker said, tears pouring down her cheeks. “You’re not
doctors. We go to doctors, not quacks … . Our life was sad enough before we
lost Kim. It’s nearly destroyed now.”
   
In addition to her prison term, Gallagher was ordered to pay a $9,000 fine
and restitution. After her prison term, she will serve a two-year term of
supervised release. She is scheduled to surrender to authorities to begin
serving her prison sentence on April 6.
   
Brett Marcy, the Times Leader’s Harrisburg correspondent, may be reached at
(717) 238-4728.