[Fwd: Another Oxycontin Prosecution]
From: dtouch (dtouch@bellsouth.net)
Sun Jan 20 17:26:10 2002
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US KY: Doctor Goes On Trial On Charges He Prescribed Oxycontin
Thu, 17 Jan 2002
Courier-Journal, The (KY)
DOCTOR GOES ON TRIAL ON CHARGES HE PRESCRIBED OXYCONTIN WITHOUT MEDICAL
REASON
PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- A Harlan County physician was either so moneyhungry that
he handed out prescriptions for the painkiller OxyContin to get rich, or he
was a sympathetic doctor who didn't want his patients to suffer.
Those were the contrasting pictures that a prosecutor and a defense attorney
painted of Dr. Ali Sawaf yesterday in the opening day of his trial in U.S.
District Court in Pikeville.
Sawaf, 60, has been in jail since Feb. 1 on charges of prescribing drugs
without a legitimate medical purpose. He faces maximum penalties of 20
years in prison and a $1 million fine if convicted on the federal charges.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger West said Sawaf was seeing up to 100 patients
a day. West said in his opening statement that Sawaf conducted no physical
exams and took no medical histories before writing prescriptions for an
assortment of painkillers, including OxyContin, which has been blamed for
dozens of overdose deaths in Kentucky.
''It's all about money,'' West said.
Authorities contend that street-level dealers sought out doctors who would
prescribe OxyContin, which is intended for terminal cancer patients and
chronic pain sufferers.
If taken properly, the drug's ingredients are released slowly into the
body. But abusers circumvent the time-release by crushing the pills and
inhaling or injecting the powder to get the same kind of euphoric high that
heroin brings.
In the illegal drug trade, authorities said, one 80-milligram OxyContin pill
can fetch $80.
Last February local, state and federal authorities joined forces for
Kentucky's largest-ever drug raid, which resulted in more than 200 arrests
on charges of trafficking in OxyContin.
Sawaf, arrested days before the regional sweep, plans to testify in his own
behalf. His trial is expected to last about two weeks. His attorney,
Russell Alred of Harlan, said Sawaf will explain to jurors how he chose to
become a physician after watching his father die a painful death with
cancer.
Alred said Sawaf was a caring physician who wanted to ease pain for his
patients, many of whom were injured coal miners and loggers.
''This man, as a physician, doesn't want to see his patients suffer,'' Alred
said. ''He wanted to help them.''
When undercover officers began to investigate Sawaf, Alred said, they came
to him complaining of severe pain from previous injuries. In one case, the
defense attorney said, a deputy working on the case told Sawaf that an
officer posing as his wife was addicted to OxyContin and asked for a
prescription for her.
Alred said evidence will show that Sawaf agreed to give that prescription to
appease her until she could get started on a treatment program.
''All the prescriptions in question were written to police officers,'' Alred
said. ''That's what you will see in this case, police officers lying to a
physician. . . . They really pulled the wool over this man's eyes.''
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