Since other doctors worried about being “red-flagged” by the drug police if they took on the cases of chronic pain patients, Dr. Stoermer was often the refuge of last resort for such sufferers. He ended up with a lot of them.

So a parade of sick people, some doubled over with cancer or spinal disease, testified at trial that Dr. Stoermer had been a God-send, had literally saved their lives.

The government, on the other hand, contended he was a mere “prescription factory,” issuing scrips for pain medications in order to profit from his $60 charge per office visit.

The Las Vegas jury weighed the evidence and unanimously acquitted Dr. Stoermer. He held out his hand to the federal prosecutor, that Christmas Eve, saying “No hard feelings.”