Pubdate: Fri, 04 Jun 2004 Source: Bradenton Herald (FL) Copyright: 2004 Bradenton Herald Contact: http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradentonherald/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/58 Author: Associated Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Freddie+Williams (Dr. Freddie Williams) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/James+Graves (Dr. James Graves) DOCTOR CALLED 'DRUG DEALER' IN FRAUD TRIAL OPENING PANAMA CITY - A physician who allegedly funneled thousands of pain pills to drug addicts, including two who died from oxycodone overdoses, is "a drug dealer with a medical license," a federal prosecutor told a Florida Panhandle jury. A lawyer for Dr. Freddie Williams denied the allegations, blamed patients for lying to his client to get prescriptions and argued that medicine is an imperfect art, not an exact science, and therefore subject to human error. "Simply because someone becomes dependent on a substance does not make the doctor who prescribed the substance a criminal," defense lawyer Armando Garcia said in his opening statement. Williams, 54, of Panama City, is facing 94 charges and could receive up to life in federal prison if convicted. His trial is expected to take three weeks. Garcia said physicians must walk a fine line between managing pain and contributing to addiction but that Williams acted in good faith and used his best medical judgment. In his opening statement earlier Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Kunz said evidence would show Williams put profit ahead of medical principles. "This is a case about a drug dealer with a medical license," the prosecutor said. "This is about a doctor peddling controlled substances - highly addictive opiates - for cash money." A search of his office, home and storage unit a year ago Friday turned up a variety of painkillers, Kunz said. He said Williams' license allowed him to prescribe, not dispense, drugs. Investigators also found five business cards with Williams' name and the moniker "Dr. Feelgood" printed across a depiction of a dollar bill, the prosecutor said. "The defendant was simply selling controlled substances to people who wanted them," Kunz said. He said Williams prescribed the painkiller oxycodone to known addicts and in two cases his prescriptions led to deaths. Oxycodone is the active ingredient in OxyContin, linked to more than 100 deaths across the nation. When swallowed whole it provides 12 hours of pain relief but can produce a quick and potentially lethal high if chewed, snorted or injected. Another Panhandle physician, Dr. James Graves, of Pace, in 2002 was the first doctor in the nation convicted of manslaughter for OxyContin-related deaths. Graves was sentenced to 63 years in state prison on four manslaughter counts for deaths from OxyContin and other drugs he had prescribed. Williams is charged with conspiracy to commit mail, wire or health care fraud, committing health care fraud, conspiracy to distribute or possessing with the intent to distribute a controlled substance, gun possession by a convicted felon, three counts of attempting to distribute drugs, 57 counts of illegally dispensing drugs, 15 counts of mail fraud and 15 counts of wire fraud. - --- MAP posted-by: Thunder