Doctor facing charges has died

WARREN -- A 74-year-old medical doctor facing more than 100 criminal charges for writing pre-signed prescriptions for a former office partner died Aug. 19.
Dr. William E. Masters of Genesee Avenue Northeast died at his home after a long illness.
Dr. Masters was due in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court on Monday for a status conference on the charges. Judge Peter Kontos is awaiting a death certificate so that the case can be dropped.
Dr. Masters was one of two doctors and a chiropractor working out of Pain Management Associates, 5000 E. Market St., indicted on a multitude of drug charges in 2004.
The other medical doctor, Christopher J. Sherman of Howland, was sentenced to serve probation, pay a $5,000 fine and ordered to make $95,000 in restitution for drug-possession convictions.
The chiropractor, Charles W. Theisler, of Austintown, was sentenced to three years in prison and fined more than $200,000 for peddling painkillers.
Dr. Masters was alleged to have written thousands of pre-signed prescriptions that Theisler issued to patients for controlled substances, said Chris Becker, assistant county prosecutor. He said Dr. Masters could have received several years in prison if convicted. His trial was set for November.
From July 2001 to Jan. 26, 2004, Dr. Masters billed patients $1.2 million, even though those patients actually were seen by Theisler, who was not authorized to prescribe controlled substances, Becker said.