Pubdate: Wed, 20 Feb 2002
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2002 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author:  Barry Meier
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?186 (Oxycontin)

DOCTOR GUILTY IN 4 DEATHS TIED TO OXYCONTIN

A Florida doctor was found guilty of manslaughter yesterday in connection 
with the deaths of four patients from drug overdoses involving the powerful 
painkiller OxyContin.

A jury in a state circuit court in Milton, Fla., deliberated for a day 
before finding the doctor, James Graves, guilty of four counts of 
manslaughter, one count of racketeering and five counts of unlawful 
delivery of a controlled substance. Dr. Graves, who was once Florida's 
biggest prescriber of OxyContin, faces 30 years in prison.

Yesterday's verdict is the first in which a doctor has been found guilty of 
manslaughter in connection with prescribing OxyContin, a time-released 
narcotic that has been widely abused. Federal officials have said misuse of 
the drug was a likely factor in about 300 overdose deaths in the last two 
years.

In his closing arguments, Russ Edgar, an assistant state attorney, 
described Dr. Graves, who practiced in Pace, a town near Pensacola Bay, as 
"no more that a drug dealer." Mr. Edgar said the doctor ran a "prescription 
mill," recklessly writing orders for OxyContin and other narcotics for 
anyone willing to pay the price of an office visit, an enterprise that 
netted Dr. Graves $500,000 a year.

OxyContin was not the only drug involved in the patients' deaths, Mr. Edgar 
said, and Dr. Graves also prescribed drugs including Lortab, another 
painkiller.

Dr. Graves's lawyers argued throughout the trial that the physician had 
followed standard medical practice and could not be held responsible for 
what patients did with the drugs he prescribed.

Michael Gibson and other defense lawyers tried to frame the trial as a 
debate over pain treatment, describing Dr. Graves as a sympathetic doctor 
duped by addicts.

"Addicts are not dumb," Mr. Gibson said in his opening arguments. "They 
lie, make up things and exaggerate things."

OxyContin, when properly used, releases timed doses of the synthetic opiate 
oxycodone. It was marketed by Purdue Pharma of Stamford, Conn., as less 
prone to misuse than other narcotics. But abusers quickly learned they 
could defeat the pill's safeguard by crushing it and get far higher doses 
of the narcotic than they could from similar drugs.

In an effort to crack down on the drug's abuse, state officials have 
charged at least two other doctors with murder or manslaughter in 
connection with patient overdose deaths. One of those doctors is also in 
Florida, and the other is in California.

It is rare for doctors to be charged with such serious crimes in connection 
with patients' overdose deaths. Several legal experts had questioned 
whether prosecutors would be able to convince jurors to convict Dr. Graves 
of manslaughter.

After hearing the verdict yesterday, Dr. Graves, appearing composed, turned 
and walked to the rail, where he was met by family members who hugged and 
kissed him before he was led out of the courthouse to a waiting police car.

His defense lawyers had no comment after the verdict.

The parents of Jeffrey Daniels, one of Dr. Graves's patients who died, had 
attended the six-week trial since its start. They tried to stifle sobs 
after the guilty verdicts were read.

Raymond Daniels Jr. and his wife, Jane, the parents of Jeffrey Daniels, 
said they hoped that yesterday's verdict saves other people from doctors 
who overprescribe OxyContin and other powerful drugs.

"I do hope some good comes from it," Mr. Daniels said. "We're not only glad 
to see this doctor pay for what he did to our son and others but glad it 
may help other people in the same situation."
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