Pubdate: Thu, 17 Apr 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, Eastern Kentucky Bureau PATIENT SAYS PHYSICIAN COACHED HER Informant Testifies In Trial Of Prescription Drug Case GREENUP -- A key prosecution witness testified yesterday that Dr. Rodolfo Santos last year twice gave her prescriptions for controlled substances at a South Shore clinic after saying he could tell she was in pain by the way she walked. "But he didn't see me walk," said undercover informant Mary Reed, who said Santos coached her on pain symptoms after he met with her former doctor, the clinic's owner. "He's asking, 'Do you have pain in your back?' and he's nodding his head so I know that's what I'm supposed to say," Reed said. Santos, 65, of Myersdale, Pa., was one of the last of about 16 physicians who worked at Plaza Healthcare clinic in South Shore after its owner, Dr. David Procter, surrendered his medical license. After leaving the clinic, three doctors were indicted on prescription-drug charges at other locations and have either been convicted or pleaded guilty in state and federal courts. Procter and two former office managers also were indicted last year on federal prescription-drug charges. Their trial is set April 28. State officials say Santos prescribed 2.5 million units of controlled drugs to 2,500 patients during 13 months at the clinic. He was indicted twice last year by separate Greenup County grand juries. Currently, he is being tried on a seven-count indictment charging him with prescribing controlled substances for non-medical purposes that stem from office visits by Reed in April and May last year. No trial date has been set for a separate indictment handed down in November. Reed, 43, a Greenup native who now lives in Sciotoville, Ohio, was the only witness yesterday on the third day of the trial, which resumes Monday. Reed said Procter was her family physician in the 1980s when she became hooked on "nerve pills." Reed made an audiotape of Procter agreeing to arrange her first appointment with Santos. "I'll take care of it for you," Procter said in the tape, which was played in court. Reed said she paid $150 in cash for her first visit and waited five hours at the clinic before seeing Santos. After greeting her, Santos went into Procter's office for about 15 minutes, she said. When he returned, Santos prescribed what Greenup Commonwealth's Attorney Cliff Duvall had described as a drug "cocktail" that included Lorset, a hydrocodone painkiller; Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug; and Soma, a muscle relaxant. He also added a prescription for Ibuprofen, a non-narcotic pain-killer. "He already knew after he went to see Dr. Procter what he was going to give me," Reed said. At times, however, Reed's testimony appeared to buttress an opening statement by Santos' attorney, Michael Curtis of Ashland, that Santos was practicing responsible medicine. Twice, Santos did not touch $500 that Reed tried to give him for extra prescriptions, she said. He also warned her he had already "fired" about 350 patients for "doctor shopping," she said. On tape, Santos seemed to examine Reed for pain. He repeatedly told her to take Ibuprofen instead of Lorset. "You will get hooked on narcotics later ... if you don't overdose," Santos said in the tape. "There are already five deaths from Lorsets and they overdosed. But if you don't overdose, you can get withdrawal symptom from pain, eh? And that is pain you don't need, eh?" - --- MAP posted-by: Jackl