In the case that became a cover story for Willamette Week, Joan Thomas sued her former psychiatrist, William L. Newton M.D. Thomas had sought out Dr. Newton for his help in treating her for long-standing drug addiction, which had arisen out of her treatment for chronic pain from a severe auto accident.

Although she had been drug-free for a considerable time, Dr. Newton immediately put her back on drugs, and over the next several years, he fed her addiction to the point where the drugs became the only thing that mattered in her life. Then, Dr. Newton began taking some of the drugs he was prescribing for her and consuming them himself. Eventually, he had her securing street drugs to feed his own appetite.

She finally broke free of him, tape recorded an incriminating phone conversation, and forced him to explain his conduct to a civil jury. We won a verdict of $600,000.