Accused CO pill mill doctor wants his freedom

Back in May, a federal magistrate judge decided Kevin Clemmer, MD, was too much of a public safety hazard to let him out on the street. Magistrate Kathleen Tafoya ordered Clemmer to stay in jail pending trial on more than 50 charges he prescribed painkillers to patients outside the scope of professional practice. Tafoya cited a number of reasons for denying bond – that he possessed both weapons and drugs and he had a pending criminal case against him in Wheat Ridge following a traffic stop where guns and marijuana were found. "Additionally, the evidence revealed several other witnesses against the defendant who received oxycodone after paying for the prescription and at least one recipient who died from a drug overdose on the drugs prescribed by the defendant," the judge said. Now his attorney, Mitchell Baker, is asking U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn to reconsider especially since his client could be locked up for months before a trial gets underway. "The general characteristics of the typical drug trafficker and the risk that those general characteristics tend to pose to the community are totally inapplicable to a fifty-seven year old doctor with no criminal history," Baker wrote.