Prescription Drugs

NEWPORT BEACH — Sitting on an oversized plush chair in baseball legend Chuck Finley's Newport Beach home, actress Tawny Kitaen seems to be in a much different place than she was eight years ago. A soccer goal is visible in the backyard, and her daughter's art covers the refrigerator in the family home. Her adopted dog, Woody, nuzzles Kitaen as she talks about a new off-camera passion: helping others. A volunteer at Kathy's House, a shelter for at-risk women in San Juan Capistrano, and a member of the board of directors at Testimony Life Resources, an alternative counseling center, Kitaen appears to be a far cry from her role as the eccentric star of "The Surreal Life," or the woman battling a dependency on prescription pills on "Celebrity Rehab.

While most parents think to check the liquor cabinet or smell their teen's breath after a party, some are realizing that youths are turning to a much more elusive drug. Without a thought, you see it everyday when you open the medicine cabinet and brush your teeth: prescription drugs. "Behind The Orange Curtain," Brent Huff's first documentary to hit the big screen, examines the abuse of prescription drugs by chronicling the stories of 15 Orange County families, and speaks to addicts and parents.

Paul Clinton Registered nurse and congressional candidate Gerrie Schipske has been beating the prescription-drug drum on the campaign trail through a district she hopes to seize from Rep. Dana Rohrabacher. Schipske, after a meeting with the Gray Panthers of Long Beach, said she supports Sen. John McCain's generic-drug bill that passed in the Senate last week and wants to provide better drug access to senior citizens. "We have to send a message that we won't let the pharmaceutical industry block their access to less expensive prescription drugs," Schipske said Monday in a statement.

An Anaheim police officer who lives in Costa Mesa is accused of driving under the influence of prescription drugs three times in the last year, with his latest alleged incident happening in Costa Mesa last week. Kevin Noel Schlueter, 37, faces three misdemeanor DUI charges. He has already pleaded not guilty to an alleged DUI in March 2009, when prosecutors said he nearly hit a California Highway Patrol car on the 405 Freeway in Westminster. In January of this year, prosecutors said Schlueter crashed his car into the backyard of a home in Huntington Beach and sat in his car until police arrived.

COSTA MESA – Four police vehicles surrounded a car and two officers drew their guns Friday after a person ran away from a traffic stop. The incident occurred about 4:30 p.m. at Fairview Road and Baker Street. A police officer saw a car with a vehicle violation and attempted to pull the car over when one person in the car got out and ran away, said Costa Mesa Police Department Lt. Bob Ciszek. Three people were arrested for possession of prescription drugs, Ciszek said.

The trial for an Irvine woman charged in connection with the death of a Newport Beach teacher in a car accident while under the influence of prescription drugs will begin Monday, prosecutors said. Janene Johns, 53, killed Eastbluff Elementary School third-grade teacher Candace Tift in August 2006 when her Lexus veered off the road and hit Tift, authorities said. Tift was walking her dog while riding a bicycle without a helmet. Prosecutors unsuccessfully pushed to withhold from the jury the fact that Johns?

A superior court judge is expected to decide this week whether jurors in the trial of a woman who lost control of her Lexus and hit and killed a Newport Beach elementary school teacher on West Coast Highway will hear evidence that the driver was distraught over the death of her husband and taking medication for anxiety and sleep disturbances at the time of the accident. Irvine resident Janene Johns, 53, was taking prescription drugs and over-the counter cough medicine to deal with the emotional aftermath of her husband’s death when her 2006 silver Lexus careened out of control and jumped the curb, killing Eastbluff Elementary School teacher Candace Tift, 31, on West Coast Highway in August 2006, Johns’ attorney Gary Pohlson claimed Monday during a motion hearing before Johns’ trial.

SANTA ANA — An allegedly intoxicated driver who hit and seriously injured a Newport Harbor High School student was charged Thursday with felony driving under the influence with an enhancement for causing brain injury and paralysis. Marnie J. Lippincott, 38, of Costa Mesa was also charged with a misdemeanor count of driving with a suspended license. Her arraignment in Orange County Superior Court was delayed Thursday until later this month. Prosecutors said Lippincott was under the influence of drugs and alcohol Tuesday afternoon when her black Chevy Tahoe hit Crystal Morales, 17, as she crossed Margaret Drive in a crosswalk near of the school, which had just let out for the day. Morales suffered serious internal and head injuries.

REP. DANA ROHRABACHER: "There's got to be some temperance in his remarks." Schipske said she is bothered by Rohrabacher's outspoken and often controversial public statements. She has criticized the congressman for taking trips to Afghanistan, Qatar and other Middle Eastern countries to meet with Taliban and moujahedeen leaders. FUNDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH: "We need to commit more resources to public health and communicable diseases." Schipske wants to beef up funding for county hospitals and clinics to eradicate outbreaks of tuberculosis and other diseases.

Tragedies abound in the trial of Janene Johns. They are not, however, comparable. The death of 31-year-old Candace Tift is heartbreaking. Tift was riding her bicycle on West Coast Highway when she was struck by Johns in 2006. Tift died of massive head trauma the next day. Tift was a caring, energetic, lovable teacher at Eastbluff Elementary School. A young woman in her prime. For her loved ones, it must seem intolerable. Tift’s mother has endured day after day of Johns’ manslaughter trial, as attorneys show autopsy photos, question medical and forensics experts and frame their arguments.

While most parents think to check the liquor cabinet or smell their teen's breath after a party, some are realizing that youths are turning to a much more elusive drug. Without a thought, you see it everyday when you open the medicine cabinet and brush your teeth: prescription drugs. "Behind The Orange Curtain," Brent Huff's first documentary to hit the big screen, examines the abuse of prescription drugs by chronicling the stories of 15 Orange County families, and speaks to addicts and parents.

SANTA ANA — An allegedly intoxicated driver who hit and seriously injured a Newport Harbor High School student was charged Thursday with felony driving under the influence with an enhancement for causing brain injury and paralysis. Marnie J. Lippincott, 38, of Costa Mesa was also charged with a misdemeanor count of driving with a suspended license. Her arraignment in Orange County Superior Court was delayed Thursday until later this month. Prosecutors said Lippincott was under the influence of drugs and alcohol Tuesday afternoon when her black Chevy Tahoe hit Crystal Morales, 17, as she crossed Margaret Drive in a crosswalk near of the school, which had just let out for the day. Morales suffered serious internal and head injuries.

COSTA MESA – Four police vehicles surrounded a car and two officers drew their guns Friday after a person ran away from a traffic stop. The incident occurred about 4:30 p.m. at Fairview Road and Baker Street. A police officer saw a car with a vehicle violation and attempted to pull the car over when one person in the car got out and ran away, said Costa Mesa Police Department Lt. Bob Ciszek. Three people were arrested for possession of prescription drugs, Ciszek said.

During my time as a trial court judge, I heard many disturbing stories about substandard medical treatment being given to the inmates in our prison system, and recently the federal courts have begun threatening to take action about the situation. So in an effort to educate myself, I asked Earl Fuller, a good friend of mine and a retired medical doctor who had volunteered to provide medical services in the women’s prison at Chowchilla, if he would share with me some observations about his experiences while he was there.

A Costa Mesa man who resigned as an Anaheim police officer last week following news of his third DUI arrest in a year has a suspended driver’s license, officials with the Department of Motor Vehicles said Tuesday. Kevin Noel Schlueter, 37, had his license suspended March 17, two weeks after his third arrest for allegedly driving under the influence of prescription drugs, DMV officials said. Schlueter was an Anaheim police officer until he resigned March 23. He had been on administrative leave for more than a year, during which he was arrested three times, Anaheim police officials said.

An Anaheim police officer who lives in Costa Mesa is accused of driving under the influence of prescription drugs three times in the last year, with his latest alleged incident happening in Costa Mesa last week. Kevin Noel Schlueter, 37, faces three misdemeanor DUI charges. He has already pleaded not guilty to an alleged DUI in March 2009, when prosecutors said he nearly hit a California Highway Patrol car on the 405 Freeway in Westminster. In January of this year, prosecutors said Schlueter crashed his car into the backyard of a home in Huntington Beach and sat in his car until police arrived.

On top of the traditional concerns among parents that their children might abuse alcohol or illegal drugs, police and county health officials are saying prescription drugs are becoming a third avenue of abuse for kids. In a seminar for community parents Tuesday night in Newport Beach, child experts, doctors and police profiled issues facing today’s kids and how parents can protect them. “They need to make sure they keep an eye on their social activities. Know who their friends and parents are,” said Irene Umipig, a health educator with Orange County’s Community Services Program Project PATH.

Everything else went silent when Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Mestman lit into Janene Johns. The sniffling stopped, tears silently streamed down audience members’ faces, and all eyes were on him. This was his last chance to convince jurors Johns was guilty of deliberately driving under the influence of prescription drugs and falling asleep at the wheel when she struck 31-year-old Candace Tift as she rode her bike on the sidewalk. “Her pride, her selfishness and her poor judgment got in the way that day,” Mestman told jurors, his voice echoing through the courtroom.

Tragedies abound in the trial of Janene Johns. They are not, however, comparable. The death of 31-year-old Candace Tift is heartbreaking. Tift was riding her bicycle on West Coast Highway when she was struck by Johns in 2006. Tift died of massive head trauma the next day. Tift was a caring, energetic, lovable teacher at Eastbluff Elementary School. A young woman in her prime. For her loved ones, it must seem intolerable. Tift’s mother has endured day after day of Johns’ manslaughter trial, as attorneys show autopsy photos, question medical and forensics experts and frame their arguments.