As a newspaper editor, I get to make a lot of decisions every day.
Even in this age of the Internet, when we are addicted to our phones, when we live and die with each post on Twitter and Facebook, I still control one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in Delaware County.
And it measures less than one square foot.
That would be the front page of our print edition.
You know, the one you glance at when you enter the Wawa, the one all those people getting on trains and buses used to pick up for their morning commute. The same ones whose faces today are buried in their phones.
Even after all the waves of technology, the single most important decision I make every day remains what that front page will look like.
I know there are a lot of people who believe there is a simple answer to that question - what will sell the most copies.
They are not entirely wrong.
But they would be today.
Today's front page represents the kind of dilemma I face every day. It's why my hair went gray a couple of decades ago. It's the kind of thing that makes a newspaper editor bolt up in bed at 3 a.m. in a cold sweat. Actually, that's about the time I get up most day anyhow.
There is no worse feeling I can endure than realizing we've gotten a story wrong. It's amazing how often I do just that.
On today's front page we present the story of Dr. Richard DiMonte.
Almost a year ago the doctor was charged by the Delaware County District Attorney's office with fraud in a case that involved Vivitrol and Suboxone, medications used to treat opioid addition. The charges alleged that Dr. DiMonte filed $394,000 worth of fraudulent insurance claims, basically charging that he was charging patients cash for medications already covered by other patients' insurance companies. He was hit with 152 counts of false and fraudulent insurance claims, as well as four counts of theft by deception.
The story made the front page of the newspaper, including the doctor's photo.
Yesterday, nearly a year later, the D.A.'s office dropped the charges.
Art Donato, DiMonte's lawyer, explained that part of the problem involved the drug Vivitrol. This is all part of the opioid scourge that is hammering so many families and communities. DiMonte was legitimately treating patients with Vivitrol, but some patients would admit to recently using heroin, which meant the doctor could not administer the shot to the patient. Federal regulations also forbid returning the medicine. DiMonte at times would use that surplus for another patient, but he never sold it, according to Donato.
Donato said he had been making that exact argument to prosecutors - without success, until new D.A. Jack Stollsteimer took office in January.
"This isn't a situation where I found some little technical thing that mde it impossible to convict him - this guy never did anything wrong," Donato said. "I didn't do any lawyer magic. There was no crime committed here."
Except perhaps for the crime committed against DiMonte's reputation.
We reported the original story involving the charges - accurately.
For some reason I don't think that would make Dr. DiMonte feel any better.
The easiest thing I could have done would have been to bury the story inside the paper.
It also would have been wrong.
When he was arrested, Dr. DiMonte's picture was plastered on the front page.
He's back on the front page this morning, with news that the charges have been dropped.
It's not the first time I've dealt with this kind of circumstance. I distinctly recall the charges that were filed against a former principal of Chester High, alleging he was involved in an inappropriate relationship with a student. Those charges also were tossed.
In these instances I always remember the words of Ray Donovan.
No, not the TV show.
Raymond Donovan was Secretary of Labor under former President Ronald Reagan. He was charged with a laundry list of corruption charges. When he was acquitted at trial, Donovan exited the courtroom, approached a bank of microphones and inquired: "Which office do I go to to get my reputation back?"
I imagine today Dr. Richard DiMonte is thinking the same thing.
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