Pubdate: Sat, 15 Mar 2003 Source: Lexington Herald-Leader (KY) Copyright: 2003 Lexington Herald-Leader Contact: http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/240 Author: Lee Mueller Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone) DOCTOR'S SIDE CALLS NO WITNESSES Testimony Ends In Illegal Prescription Case VANCEBURG - Testimony in the prescription-drug trial of Dr. Fortune Williams ended yesterday after his defense attorney decided against calling any of the half-dozen potential witnesses waiting in the Lewis County Courthouse hallway. Williams' case is expected to be presented to a jury Monday morning after closing arguments, said Lewis Commonwealth's Attorney Clifford Duvall. Williams, 53, who was hired to work at a small clinic at Garrison in Lewis County from Dec. 1, 2000, to Oct. 30, 2001, is charged with four counts of illegally prescribing a controlled substance. If convicted, he faces possible prison sentences of one to five years on each count. Prosecutors closed their cases yesterday after a key witness, Phyllis Jean Brothers, 36, of Lewis County, a police informant named in all four counts against Williams, described her four visits to the clinic with fake medical records. Some of Brothers' testimony appeared vague or contradictory, but secretly recorded videotapes showed Williams saw her for just 37 seconds during her last visit to the clinic. She also testified, however, that Williams had refused to give her a drug she requested and clinic aides had asked her whether she had insurance and told her how to get an MRI that he prescribed. Prosecution witnesses said earlier the clinic was a cash-only business. Brothers also at first denied that prosecutors asked her to dress provocatively, but later said she was asked to wear a short skirt to see whether Williams would "come on to me." After prosecutors ended their case, defense attorney Bryan Underwood filed a motion to dismiss the charges, which was overruled by Judge Lewis Nicholls. Witnesses testified Williams was treating an average of 150 patients a day at the clinic, which charged $70 to $85 cash for an office visit. At the same time, Williams wrote 46,160 prescriptions for painkillers in 101 days, prosecutors say. Witnesses testified that 35 sample cases examined by experts show Williams failed to meet minimum medical guidelines because he never established doctor-patient relationships, never examined his patients and generally gave them prescriptions for requested drugs. During cross-examination, Underwood gave the jury a stack of paperwork from Brothers' medical file which he said noted her physical complaints and recommended treatment. He also pointed out that only two of the 35 sample patients testified and that all indictments were based on two visits by Brothers. Underwood argued that prosecutors had not produced any proof that Williams knew the pills were being used for anything other than medical purposes. The last prosecution witness, Danna Dros, manager of the state drug-enforcement division of the Department of Public Health, said records filed by Kentucky pharmacies showed that during the 11 months Williams worked at the clinic he prescribed 2,452,583 pain pills containing hydrocodone, as well as 751,685 Xanax and 236,197 Valium, both tranquilizers and 249,048 Somas, a muscle relaxant. "There's nothing illegal in these numbers, in and of themselves, is there?" asked Underwood, who told Nicholls the state was attempting to scare the jury with numbers. "Numbers don't prove unlawful intent," he said. Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Tom Bertram suggested profit was Williams' motive. Prosecutors calculated that the small clinic in a town of 800 people was taking in up to $14,000 a day in cash, Bertram said. "There was no legitimate medical purpose for what was going on in Lewis County, Kentucky, from Dec. 1, 2000, to Oct. 15, 2001," he told the court. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom