WDRB reporting arrest

If this country would quit wasting our money on a drug war we wouldn't even be having this conversation. I feel sorry for the man, what goes in his body should be his own business.

Congratulations. Yours is the most sensible utterance in the whole thread, and I wholeheartedly agree.

Is it possible that I actually agree with Roger A. Baylor about something?

I've known Dean for years. He is a tough cookie and will overcome this legal issue. As hard as he has worked over the past how-many-ever years, I am suprised he even has a back left. He has been successful in many ventures and as much time as he has put in, he most assuredly would have back problems. It goes with the territory. I know a few of his current and past employees and they all make me jealous that I have never had him as my boss.

That being said, I have witnessed good chefs get hooked on pain pills for purely medical reasons and ruin themselves. DEANO IS NOT IN THIS CATEGORY!!!

If they don't just have him pay a small fine and send him on his way, I may have to picket the courthouse. If the media or anyone else sensationlizes(SP?) this then I say we protest them. Of course that is just me ranting and it would probably be best to let Dean deal with this as quietly as possible.

But, if he needs the support, I'll have my markers, posterboard and bullhorn ready.

Is it possible that I actually agree with Roger A. Baylor about something?

I didn't say there shouldn't be a War on Bud Light, though.

Warning: unpopular viewpoint follows.

It sounds as if Mr. Corbettt is undeniably a great fellow, but what he did was phenomenally stupid and irresponsible. Firstly, it is not possible to have been prescribed Vicodin and not been made aware from the doctor, the pharmacist, and from labeling that its transfer is illegal and can land you in jail for a few months. This is basic common sense.

Secondly, Mr. Corbett is a Chef and a businessman, not a doctor. There is a very good reason that only doctors, and not laymen, are allowed to prescribe and dispense addictive painkillers. Such drugs are heavily abused, and such abuse can lead to higher levels of addiction and even death. Since Mr. Corbett is not a doctor, he's in no position to determine the other fellow's history of use, allergies, potential negative reactions, etc, etc. Now you may say, "but it's Bob, he's got cancer, I've known him for years, he wouldn't lie to me". That's all well and good. But it's equally possible to be compassionate on the one hand, and be smart, and stay within the law on the other. It would have been just as compassionate, and a Hell of a lot more responsible, to say "Hey Bob, I know you're short on funds... let me cover your doctor's visit and your prescription for next week. You can pay me back at the end of the month".

Pretty simple solution, eh? Compassion has been offered to a friend in pain, Mr Corbett's not being charged with a drug crime, Bob's not being charged with a drug crime, and Mr. Corbettt doesn't have to worry about getting a call the next day that Bob's in ICU with liver failure because he's self-prescribing himself drugs and then borrowing them from a buddy.

FWIW he does seem like a really good guy, and I hope the judge just smacks him upside the head and lets him get back to doing good things in the community.

/I know, I sound like my Dad
//Have done incredibly stupid things in my life too.
///No jailtime so far
////Fingers crossed.

As I mentioned earlier in this thread WDRB dramatically misreported the circumstances in Dean's story. I am excited to see that they are doing the right thing and are apologizing publicly to Dean and correcting it tonight.

"Mr. Zegart,

I'm responding to your note about the Dean Corbett story we ran on Friday. This was my mistake. You are absolutely correct in saying that we owe Mr. Corbett an apology. I interpreted from his statement that he was saying that he was buying these drugs to replace the ones he gave to his friend, and that was wrong for me to do. I should have just given his statement and be done with it. We plan to run a correction during our 6:30 and 10 newscasts tonight. I'm sorry that this happened. I pride myself on accuracy, and intend to never let something like this happen again.

Regards,
David Scott."

Warning: unpopular viewpoint follows.

It sounds as if Mr. Corbettt is undeniably a great fellow, but what he did was phenomenally stupid and irresponsible. Firstly, it is not possible to have been prescribed Vicodin and not been made aware from the doctor, the pharmacist, and from labeling that its transfer is illegal and can land you in jail for a few months. This is basic common sense.

.

I do not know whre you get your prescriptions filled, but due to several surgeries in the last few years, I have had nacotics prescriptions filled. The doctor did not say anything to me, though he knows my background and job, so maybe he felt he did not need to. The pharmacist did not mention it, he did not know me and in fact in one case, my husband picked up the meds and never was questioned about his relationship to me. I do not remember seeing anything in the inserts or on the bottle about transfer, just warnings regarding driving and operating machinery. I am not getting on your case, just saying that it may not have been so obvious to someone who does not the knowledge or background. Yes, he was wrong, but the storm of coverage is way out of proportion. I have personal knowledge of several "incidents" of prominent people in this town that never saw the light of day. Amazing how some things get blown off and some get blown up.

Fair enough Suzi. Admitttedly I've never had something that strong prescribed to me. OTOH, even with my lack of personal experience I think I would realize that Vicodin is a controlled substance and that swapping a small handfull with my buddy constituutes a potential crime that could land me in some seriously deep doo-doo. I think most adults would be aware of that risk. Ignorance of the law is no excuse as they say.

I suppose the litmus test is the following. Would you (or anyone else here) under any circumstances do a hand-off of even a small quantity of a controlled substance (i.e. narcotic drug) in a parking lot? Seriously, would anyone here do that?

Dan,
On the humorous side, since you are located in Germany, my German ex handed off illegal substances every day to soldiers stationed in Germany and then watched them drive by the next with missiles mounted and guns loaded... but at least they weren't cooking our meals, still, do be careful around the military bases.

Its a rough and tumble world of drugs and alcohol in the old restaurant biz ( thank god I got sober and lived through the worst of it) but a lot worse things have happened than this incident that was blown way out of proportion for all the wrong reasons.

Bill

As I mentioned earlier in this thread WDRB dramatically misreported the circumstances in Dean's story. I am excited to see that they are doing the right thing and are apologizing publicly to Dean and correcting it tonight.

"Mr. Zegart,

I'm responding to your note about the Dean Corbett story we ran on Friday. This was my mistake. You are absolutely correct in saying that we owe Mr. Corbett an apology. I interpreted from his statement that he was saying that he was buying these drugs to replace the ones he gave to his friend, and that was wrong for me to do. I should have just given his statement and be done with it. We plan to run a correction during our 6:30 and 10 newscasts tonight. I'm sorry that this happened. I pride myself on accuracy, and intend to never let something like this happen again.

Regards,
David Scott."

What a humane response. And like I expected, the error was an honest error.

Chef Corbett made an honest error. The reporter made an honest error. Guess we should all put our pitchforks away.

Fair enough Suzi. Admitttedly I've never had something that strong prescribed to me. OTOH, even with my lack of personal experience I think I would realize that Vicodin is a controlled substance and that swapping a small handfull with my buddy constituutes a potential crime that could land me in some seriously deep doo-doo. I think most adults would be aware of that risk. Ignorance of the law is no excuse as they say.

I suppose the litmus test is the following. Would you (or anyone else here) under any circumstances do a hand-off of even a small quantity of a controlled substance (i.e. narcotic drug) in a parking lot? Seriously, would anyone here do that?

Dan,
I have been on these drugs in the past due to cancer and back pains- while I know they are "controlled" -I would not think them to be illegal to swap with someone who had a prescription. Call me stupid- I would have done the same thing in these circumstance without realizing there was an issue. There are many times where a pharmacy won't refill for a day, or can't reach your doctor, or takes two days to get back in- hence a "loan". Especially if someone is in pain. I now know better, but if you don't think there is anything wrong with it, I can easily see myself doing the same thing - in a hurry to get to someplace else- just swinging by to pick something up. I've done the same getting Farmer's Market strawberries from Sarah Fristchner at a gas station, and food ingredients from a friend in a parking lot.

Deb

Fair enough Suzi. Admitttedly I've never had something that strong prescribed to me. OTOH, even with my lack of personal experience I think I would realize that Vicodin is a controlled substance and that swapping a small handfull with my buddy constituutes a potential crime that could land me in some seriously deep doo-doo. I think most adults would be aware of that risk. Ignorance of the law is no excuse as they say.

I suppose the litmus test is the following. Would you (or anyone else here) under any circumstances do a hand-off of even a small quantity of a controlled substance (i.e. narcotic drug) in a parking lot? Seriously, would anyone here do that?

Dan,
I have been on these drugs in the past due to cancer and back pains- while I know they are "controlled" -I would not think them to be illegal to swap with someone who had a prescription. Call me stupid- I would have done the same thing in these circumstance without realizing there was an issue. There are many times where a pharmacy won't refill for a day, or can't reach your doctor, or takes two days to get back in- hence a "loan". Especially if someone is in pain. I now know better, but if you don't think there is anything wrong with it, I can easily see myself doing the same thing - in a hurry to get to someplace else- just swinging by to pick something up. I've done the same getting Farmer's Market strawberries from Sarah Fristchner at a gas station, and food ingredients from a friend in a parking lot.

Deb

I do remember an occasion of me getting an abscesed tooth and my father bringing me over some of his old painkillers. Illegal by these standards, no?

Pointing out the less obvious- no health care in our line of work and you get treated with an air of 'are they gonna pay us' when doing visits. It's tough to get taken seriously, unless you know the folks. I'm sure pain management is fairly low on the 'give a shit' scale.

We have each other- we walk together. It's this creedo that Deano was following and he should be respected in these halls for this.

I've seen detractors villify a great many people here and have come to thier defense. I can proudly say that I have been correct on every last account. I am right here, as well as all the fine folks who are throwing thier towels behind this exceptional human being.

WDRB Newsman David not only apologized to Dean tonight on the 6:30 news, but he also gave further clarification to the story. It will also happen again tonight on the WDRB 10:00 pm newscast. Kudos to Dave for doing the right thing. Definitely hold Dave in higher regard.

Moving on, I must also comment on the parking lot and Drug Zone comments that constantly pop up here and other places. They do not lend anything to helping a very caring person and his family through an extremely difficult time.

Last time I looked, which was actually the same night as Dean's misfortune, there are no signs anywhere declaring Rolling Hills a Drug Zone. Since the story I've heard directly from others sharing their experiences in the area. Perhaps we should all be more concerned about what they shared. People are being pulled over and searched for tailights that are supposedly out which are not, is just one example. So apparently it is a high alert area and we should all be aware of that. Perhaps reflective Drug Zone signs are appropriate.

Now let's talk about Dean Corbett, the man running 3 businesses who that evening also did a radio show before he ever had the opportunity to go home. A very very very long day. From here I speculate a bit, but the fact is Dean stopped by Jacks, picked up a pizza or two and was on his way home to see his family. Rolling Hills is on Dean's way home from Jacks so either his very ill ex-employee (because of illness) could live there - or - it was simply on Dean's way home and a place to quickly meet and have his pills returned from the prescription the ex-employee with cancer just refilled. Either way in Dean's eyes he was doing nothing wrong because he readily told the arresting officer, without hesitation that he was simply exchanging Vicodin with the guy. The facts are simply Dean and the other guy were BOTH prescribed Vicodin, Dean had loaned him a few pills until his prescription was refilled and Dean was on his way home from an extremely long day and certainly a "quick drive by" return of his pills on his way home was plausible and logical.

So I hope that people here and in the public will show compassion toward a man that is bound to incurr ridiculous legal bills, a bruised reputation (that he has worked so hard to earn) and a passion for helping others. I have no doubt that Dean will bounce back, but at this time support from others who know and admire Dean is crucial. If you feel the way I do, please send Dean an email to Corbettsrestaurant@insightbb.com.

Some of you have expressed your caring feelings privately. I sincerely thank you too.

Call me stupid- I would have done the same thing in these circumstance without realizing there was an issue.
Deb

Personally, I would have done the same thing under these circumstances even if I DID realize there was an "issue"...I would also have done the same thing under these circumstances even if I knew there was a reasonably good chance I would get caught doing it. There are just times when doing the wrong thing is the absolute right thing to do and this was one of them. It's just the way I roll.

Call me stupid- I would have done the same thing in these circumstance without realizing there was an issue.
Deb

Personally, I would have done the same thing under these circumstances even if I DID realize there was an "issue"...I would also have done the same thing under these circumstances even if I knew there was a reasonably good chance I would get caught doing it. There are just times when doing the wrong thing is the absolute right thing to do and this was one of them. It's just the way I roll.

Agreed!

It would be even better if the government would get the F*** out of the way and let us take care of each other.

Do you know many people in media? Perhaps it's different for the old guard, but I know the new guard is pushed to do exactly that -- destroy the facts and peoples' characters for sensationalism and ratings. The whole credibility bit went out the window about when the internet began destroying advertising dollars.

I just wanted to say that I have a bachelor's degree in journalism (2005) and a master's degree in mass communication (2007), and I was NEVER taught to "destroy the facts and peoples' characters for sensationalism and ratings." In fact, I was taught the exact opposite -- that you only report the facts, which includes making sure any charges not yet tried in a court of law are reported as "alleged," and that you only report what is relevant to the story, even if there is something else interesting or colorful in the person's past that has nothing to do with the story.

I agree that this is often not what takes place in the modern media, and it burns me up just as much as anyone else. But I do not want people to assume that this is how we are taught and trained now as journalists, because it isn't.

Kari, I don't think any J-School would teach anything of the sort. But once people hit the newsroom, it is quite a bit different. I truly believe most journalists care. I just know many of them, especially any obliquely touching online things, are severely pressured to disregard their own integrity for the sake of a dollar.