IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISECTIONSATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2014

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Ear pain?Pay up toget advice

All I wanted was to getrid of ear pain. It botheredme for two days and be-came so sharp at times thatI tugged on my ear.

A few doses of ibuprofenrelieved the misery, but thepain roared back.

Instead of calling mydoctor’s office, I decidedto use an online UPMCservice known as Any-whereCare. It promisedan electronic answer froma medical professionalwithin 30 minutes. All Ihad to do was answer afew questions about mysymptoms.

When pain is killingyou, getting help withina half-hour without goinganywhere seems like a no-brainer.

The questions, tailor-made for my complaint ofan earache, were simpleand thorough: Have youused Q-tips recently? Haveyou been swimming lately?Is the pain worse withchewing? Do you have anyredness of the ear?

Before I could submitmy case for review, Ihad to provide my creditcard number; I would becharged $38. My assump-tion was that I’d get sometype of treatment for mymoney.

Within eight minutes, Ireceived an email from anurse practitioner askingfor a better description ofthe pain. “Throb? Sharp?”she asked. “Sharp,” Ireplied, describing whatI thought were swollenglands on my neck.

A mere 16 minutes later,this bombshell arrivedin my inbox: “There areover-the-counter dropsyou can try,” the nursepractitioner wrote.

The $38 figure flashedin my head. This is whatI’m getting for $38? A trip toGiant Eagle? But I alreadyknew I can get over-the-counter drops!

I told the nurse practi-tioner that I had hopedfor a prescription.

Her reply hurt, mostlybecause it was true: “90percent of upper respira-tory illnesses in adultsare viral in nature anddon’t require anythingbesides supportive care.”

Now I was really mad.Not so much at the nursepractitioner, but at my-self. I should’ve knownbetter. And frankly, Ishould’ve put up withthe pain. (For the record,it subsided the next day,without drops.)

As health care consum-ers, we have the expecta-tion that “If I pay, I mustget something in return.”That’s true for peoplewho go to MedExpresswith a sore throat. Weexpect a prescriptionfor an antibiotic, eventhough we’ve been tolda thousand times that itwon’t do anything againsta virus and we’re merelymaking germs stronger.

A few days after myincident, I spoke to Dr.Daniel Martich, the inter-nist who is UPMC’s chiefmedical information offi-cer. He apologized for myexperience. He told me hewould’ve done the sameas the nurse practitioner— no antibiotics needed.We agreed there’s toomuch overuse of antibi-otics inside and outsidehospitals, and patientsneed to educate them-selves about the issue.

“There’s got to be an edu-cational process, and partof that education, unfortu-nately, is going to be at thepocketbook,” he told me.

Still, consumers ought tobe warned — before pull-ing out their credit cards— that their money won’tnecessarily buy them a pre-scription, just convenience.Martich said he’ll look intoadding wording that warnsusers before they pay fortheir virtual visit.

If that happens, I’ll con-sider the $38 well spent.

Luis Fabregas is Trib Total Media’smedical editor. Reach him at 412-

320-7998 or lfabregas@tribweb.com.

LUIS FABREGAS

Brentwood Mayor Dennis Troyplaced police Chief Robert Butellion paid administrative leave, sayinghe wants to review the police depart-ment’s operations.

“There have been allegations thatthere has been poor managementand things that go against what Ibelieve are strong leadership,” saidTroy, a Republican who took office inJanuary. He would not elaborate. “Atsome point, you’ll find out.”

Butelli, 61, could not be reachedfor comment. Brentwood’s chiefsince October 2001, he has a one-

year employment agreement forthis year, with a $105,726 salary. Hereturned his borough-owned carand police gear on Friday morning,Troy said.

Sgt. Adam Zeppuhar, who joinedthe department in 2002, is actingchief.

This is not the only departmentalreview under way in Brentwood, atown of about 9,600 people. Leadersrecently sought bids for emergencymedical services and formed a com-mittee to discuss merging or consoli-dating the police department withBaldwin Borough, something Troyopposes.

Council President Marty Vicklesssaid he called an emergency execu-tive session on Thursday evening, atTroy’s request, to allow the mayor to

brief council regarding Butelli. Thecouncil took no action.

Following the meeting, Troy saidhe notified Butelli by email regard-ing his decision to place the chiefon paid leave.

Troy and Zeppuhar on Fridaybegan conducting an internalreview of the 14-member depart-ment, which will include compilingreports.

“I’ve heard from many that thereare lapses in management,” saidTroy, who said “there may be” achance for Butelli to return.

Vickless said the mayor overseesoperations of the police departmentand has “the power to handle thesituation until council either meetsor does an investigation.”

by STEPHANIE HACKE

Brentwood chief on paid leave‘Lapses in management’cause review of police

BRENTWOOD · B7

COMMUNITY CARINGMore than 100 people took part in the 2nd annual Recovery Walk, including Washington resident Jennifer Troutand her 8-week-old baby, Caleb. The day started with speakers sharing stories of recovery, followed by a walkthrough downtown Washington to celebrate National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. “It’s awalk to celebrate life,” said Cheryl Andrews, executive director of the Washington Drug & Alcohol Commission.“Addiction, which gets a lot of focus, unfortunately, on the deaths and overdoses, is a community problem.And it takes all of the community to be part of the recovery. Today, we’re celebrating recovery and life.”

KEITH HODAN | TRIB TOTAL MEDIA

The city wants to meet withowners of Stage AE becausenearly 40 people had to betreated for heat-related ill-ness or injuries during aconcert on Thursday — thesecond time in less than twoweeks that dozens of peoplewere crushed or overcome byheat during an event.

Medics treated 36 people atthe Austin Mahone concerton Aug. 26.

“We have to try to makethis work, looking at hydra-tion and air conditioning in

there. You get more than 4,000people into a small place,and it’s not surprising thatthis happens,” Mark Bocian,Pittsburgh’s acting directorof emergency medical ser-vices, said on Friday.

Bocian said he will requesta meeting with owners ofthe indoor-outdoor entertain-ment venue in the comingdays.

Stage AE’s general man-ager, Doug Hermann, andBurt Lauten, a spokesman

for the Steelers, a part-ownerof Stage AE, did not returnphone calls. Scott Stienecker,CEO of Promowest Produc-tions, which operates StageAE, did not return phonecalls.

Dan Shapiro, the agentfor the rock band A Day ToRemember, which playedStage AE’s outdoor amphi-theater on Thursday, declinedto comment.

Calls started going in toemergency centers about 7:30

p.m. and continued until 11:30p.m.

Fans with ankle and headinjuries got them in the moshpit, he said. Fans in moshpits, which are usually infront of the stage, push andslam into each other whiledancing.

The heat affected other fansneeding medical help.

“These are young kids whowaited in line for hours be-cause they wanted to be upfront and in the mosh pit.

They were crushed fromdancing and dehydrated frombody heat. They expendeda lot of energy at that con-cert,” said Dr. Tom Campbell,Allegheny Health Network’sdirector of emergency medi-cine.

Alcohol and drugs likeecstasy can accelerate dehy-dration, he said. AlleghenyGeneral Hospital treated sev-eral concert-goers but saw noevidence they had used illicitsubstances, he said.

“Drugs and alcohol just

by RICK WILLS

Stage AE illnesses, injuries promptmeetingCity, venue owners to discuss heat-related issues

STAGE AE · B7

City investigators determineda Pittsburgh police officer whoarrested a woman during a vio-lent altercation at a gay prideevent did not use excessive force.

But an attorney for the womansaid the case is far from closedand called on police to explainthe investigation’s methodologyand release videos and photo-graphs attorneys have not beenallowed to see.

“I just want some transpar-ency,” said Downtown attorneySteve Barth, who representsAriel Lawther, 19, of Harmony.“So far it’s been radio silence onthe part of the city.”

A short video clip of the ar-rest that went viral showed Of-ficer Souroth Chatterji punchingLawther in the stomach after aconfrontation with anti-gay pro-testers at the June 15 PrideFestcelebration Downtown.

Officials with the Office ofMunicipal Investigations re-viewed police procedures on useof force; interviewed the officer,his supervisors and witnesses,including a friend of Lawther’s;and reviewed “a wide range ofphotographs and video of theincident,” according to a state-ment released Friday.

“While OMI exonerated theofficer in this case, it also ob-tained an independent third-party use of force review by anoutside agency that arrived at thesame conclusion,” city SolicitorLourdes Sanchez-Ridge said.

Lawther was charged withaggravated assault, simple as-sault, resisting arrest and dis-orderly conduct. In the criminalcomplaint, Chatterji wrote thatLawther attacked an anti-gayactivist and hit him during thearrest.

Mayor Bill Peduto, who calledfor the investigation, assignedChatterji to desk duty, but he hassince returned to patrol.

“This administration is dedi-cated to objectivity, and objectivereviews of the entirety of theevidence may not always revealwhat one video, one photograph,or one statement might revealalone,” Sanchez-Ridge said in thestatement.

Barth said he wants access tophotographs of the incident aswell as video shot by PNC Banksecurity cameras. He intends tofile a petition asking the city tohand over all of the evidence.

He did not rule out a lawsuit.“I want to see the video before

we make any decisions,” Barthsaid. “I’m an advocate of trans-parency, and I’d just like to seewhat the factors were.”

Elizabeth Pittinger, executivedirector of the Citizen PoliceReview Board, called on newlyappointed Police Chief CameronMcLay to review the bureau’s useof force policy, particularly whenapplied to “First Amendment-protected gatherings” such asPrideFest.

“These are not criminalevents,” she said. “We’re optimis-tic with the pending leadership

by MARGARET HARDINGAND CHRIS TOGNERI

Attorney for womancalls for transparency

Officerclearedinuseof force

PRIDE · B7

A 6-foot-tall mannequin woreLeon Ford’s bloody, bullet-riddenAir Jordan sweatshirt on Friday sothe Allegheny County jury decidingwhether he is guilty of assaultingpolice could see where he was shot.

Some of the holes — includingnine that formed a line going acrossthe chest, four in the hood and twoin the neck and shoulder area —were consistent with the passage ofa bullet through folded fabric, saidWilliam Best, an expert in firearmsand tool marks in the AlleghenyCounty crime lab.

Pittsburgh police Officer DavidDerbish shot Ford five times in whathe said was self-defense during aNov. 11, 2012, traffic stop in High-land Park.

Assistant District Attorney RobSchupansky asked Best if the holessupported Derbish’s story. The of-ficer maintains he jumped in Ford’scar as it accelerated and was kneel-ing on the passenger seat of thesilver Infiniti when he shot Ford.

“Yes,” Best said.Ford, 21, of Shaler is charged with

aggravated assault, recklessly en-dangering another person and flee-ing police. The shooting left Fordparalyzed from the waist down.

The case sparked racial tensionsbecause Ford is black and the threeofficers involved are white. Some ofthe city’s top black leaders were inthe courtroom this week.

Schupansky rested his case onFriday, and the defense began ques-tioning its witnesses. The trial re-sumes on Monday before CommonPleas Judge Donald E. Machen.

Officers Michael Kosko and An-drew Miller pulled Ford over about9:30 the night of the incident anddetained him by the side of the roadfor about 16 minutes while they at-tempted to verify his identity.

When Derbish arrived to help, hesaid he saw a bulge in Ford’s pantsthat he believed was a weapon.

According to their testimony, offi-cers asked Ford to exit the vehicle atleast six times and tried to force himout when Miller said he saw Fordreach toward the so-called bulge.

The officers said that’s when Fordput the car in gear and accelerated

by ADAM bRANDOLPH

Expert: Bullet holes backpolice storyBut defense witness saysdriver didn’t mean to speedoff, endangering officer

The case sparked racialtensions because Leon Fordis black and the three officersinvolved are white. Some

of the city’s top black leaderswere in the courtroom

this week.

FORD · B6