Doctor says
‘rape’ drug is
medicinal

A Foster Village defendant
is expected to claim that
he made GHB for hepatitis

By Craig Gima
Star-Bulletin

A Foster Village man, charged with manufacturing the so-called date rape drug gamma hydroxy-buterate or GHB, was expected to make his initial appearance in District Court this morning.

But his family and doctor say Stevan Eberhardt, 45, did not intend to distribute the drug and was using it to treat himself for symptoms of hepatitis C.

"If they want to take this to trial and try and make an example of a dying man, I think it's a mistake," said Dr. Michael Lauer, Eberhardt's physician.

Lauer said Eberhardt is a "chronic, desperately ill man" who was using the drug because he has difficulty sleeping.

Eberhardt is a believer in alternative medicine and researched the Internet for ways of treating his disease, Lauer and family members said.

Lauer said he warned Eberhardt the drug was illegal, but "he was willing to risk his freedom for a good night's sleep."

Interferon is the only recognizedil,19p,6p9 treatment for hepatitis C, but it is not covered under the QUEST insurance program, and Eberhardt did not want to take it because of the drug's side effects, Lauer said.

Eberhardt's mother-in-law, 66-year-old Floraine Grace, denied reports the drug was in a water container and that it could have been ingested by the six children in her care.

Grace has been baby-sitting children for 23 years and runs a state-licensed day-care center.

She said the parents of the six children she watches have not removed their children from her care.

Grace also charged that a state narcotics officer held a gun to the head of her daughter when her daughter arrived to pick up her 3-year-old son during the search.

Grace was watching television with two children in her care last Tuesday when state narcotics officers arrived with guns drawn to search the house. "They came right into the living room, and my heart started to beat real fast," she said.

Grace said investigators did not find large amounts of cash or any evidence her son-in-law intended to distribute the drug.

Eberhardt has been in the District Court cellblock since his arrest, and Grace said his family was not allowed to bring in food or medication he requested. "Why they treat him like that?" she asked. "He needs his vitamins. He's a sick man."

Lauer said state narcotics officers may have targeted Eberhardt because of comments Lauer made after he resigned as medical director for the state's prison system.

Lauer told KSSK radio drug use is rampant in the prison and that there is a drug importation and distribution ring at Halawa prison.