Dr. William A. Carter's waiting room had sat empty since Feb. 28.

But patients and friends have been anxiously awaiting his return –– and his vindication –– after battling accusations that he had a hand in the 2008 death of his teenage boy.

Some of their good wishes are now coming true.

Carter's practice at 930 Red Rose Court, East Hempfield Township, has resumed.

The state has returned his license. The 59-year-old doctor began seeing medical cosmetic patients last week.

Supporters of Carter and his wife, Barbara, will hold a Sept. 10 benefit to raise funds for charity, and for the couple's legal defense fund.

But the family practice half of the business is on hold because Carter surrendered his license to prescribe narcotics.

Sorrow accompanies the family's steps forward. And, they say, indignation over their journey through the legal system after losing 14-year-old Connor.

"We're still very fragile," Dr. Carter said recently while talking about his son.

Connor had been recuperating at home from a debilitating knee injury suffered in a school gym class. His father had administered an expired fentanyl prescription pain-killing patch returned by another patient.

The boy died while sleeping Dec. 18, 2008.

The Lancaster County coroner's office listed the cause of death as multiple drug toxicity.

Carter was initially charged with felony homicide.

Barred initially from reading Connor's autopsy report and told only that Connor's fentanyl level was "off-the-charts high," Barbara Carter said, her husband was racked with guilt for more than a year.

But last winter, the family's new defense attorney, Heidi Eakin, discovered that the drug levels in the toxicology report "appeared to be in therapeutic limits" after all.

Charges against Carter were subsequently changed to reckless endangerment.

On March 11, 2010, the Carters said, Dr. Carter pleaded guilty to the reduced charge to bring their exhausting legal battle to a close.

That month, the couple added, they learned that Connor had at least one blood clot in his lung.

Fear of clots resulting from pain-induced inactivity was the reason for giving Connor fentanyl in the first place, his parents say.

The Carters say they have been given access to their son's toxicology report, but not the histology, or microscopic analysis that would tell the origin of the clot.

Carter questions why he wasn't told immediately about the clot, or about a "markedly" abnormal thickening in his son's left ventrical wall.

According to Barbara Carter, the defect, which was possibly congenital, makes it "highly likely that [Connor] died of a cardiac arrhythmia, not a drug overdose."

Found support
"Bill and I would not have survived had the community not been supportive of us," Barbara Carter said.

Friends steadfastly maintain that Carter, who has an otherwise spotless record, was branded by the media and unfairly targeted by authorities.

Centerville eye doctor Debra Wolaniuk Dombrowski said the treatment of the Carters was ironic in light of the compassion shown a woman whose pet finch was confiscated by the state Game Commission in March.

In the bird case, County District Attorney Craig Stedman changed court rules so that his office's approval must be obtained for future search warrants.

Stedman staunchly defended the county's stance in the Carter matter, saying in an e-mail that "Dr. Carter was handled anything but roughly" by the system.

"He gave his son an extremely dangerous controlled substance," Stedman added. "This act ... regardless of whether it caused injury or death, is a felony violation" punishable by state imprisonment.

"Under the plea offer we gave him not only did we decline to pursue any felonies and he has avoided incarceration completely, but he was accepted into the [Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition] program which will allow his record to be expunged completely."

Carter said he is fulfilling his ARD requirements by informing other physicians it's illegal to transfer prescribed drugs among patients.

He was unaware of the law when he treated Connor, he added. "Most of my colleagues were not aware of that."

Not knowing when, or if, he would be allowed to resume practice, Carter said, he took four biomedical informatics courses on using technology to more effectively deliver medical care.

Now, he's happy to be back in the office.

"I'm so very appreciative for the help of so many to be able to get part of my professional life back," he said.

Office Manager Stacie Self said she has been getting inquiries from new patients and is optimistic about the future of the once-thriving office. "I think once word gets out, we're going to grow again."

The Carters, who reported spending about $120,000 –– including their retirement savings –– on legal fees, say they are excited about rebuilding their lives and their finances.

But the transition is likely to include downsizing the present 3,000-square-foot facility.

With his family practice in limbo, Carter said, "we don't need all this space."

His wife, a psychotherapist who partnered with him in the Red Rose Court office, said it would be great to restart the family practice –– for patients' sakes.

However, she added, winning back Carter's license to prescribe narcotics would likely take a state clemency ruling.

"Even then it's an uphill battle," Barbara Carter said. It's not one they're immediately eager to join, "now that we see what the law can do."

Jon Rutter is a staff writer for the Sunday News. His e-mail address is jrutter@lnpnews.com.