Pubdate: Mon, 24 Oct 2005 Source: Ogdensburg Journal/Advance News (NY) Copyright: 2005 Johnson Newspaper Corp. Contact: http://www.ogd.com/letter.htm Website: http://www.ogd.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/689 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n1484.a02.html Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/operation+sahara+wind ACTING DA MILES DEFENDS LATIMER DRUG INVESTIGATION Acting District Attorney Gary W. Miles suggested Friday that Dr. James L. Latimer was uncooperative during an investigation into his alleged illegal dispensing of methadone to opiate addicts and agreed to surrender his DEA registration and medical license in order to avoid prosecution. Miles sent a lengthy letter to the editor to local media outlets explaining his actions in the case against the Madrid physician. The case has become a hot button issue in this fall's district attorney's race between Miles and Nicole Duve. "Dr. Latimer's apparent disregard of his duty to his patients over a two-year period contributed greatly to the flood of opiates that impacted St. Lawrence County until the summer of 2005," Miles charged. "Dr. Latimer knew, or should have known, that many, if not all, of the 18 patients that he provided excessive quantities of narcotics to would divert them to the black market as these same patients would have suffered from an overdose or a potentially fatal liver dysfunction if they actually consumed all of their pills," he added. "Dr. Latimer accepted the terms offered to him, and I agreed to an unlimited grace period to allow Dr. Latimer to shut down his practice and refer his patients to new physicians. D. Latimer agreed to cease writing prescriptions for controlled medications during this period." Miles said in a four-page letter distributed Friday. Miles said he decided to detail the facts in the case "to respond to recent press reports and opinion columns regarding the case of James L. Latimer, M.D. and how he has been treated by this office. "Over the past few weeks, I have been subjected to numerous persona attacks upon my judgement and integrity by Dr. Latimer's family, members of the public and my opponent, Nicole M. Duve," he said. According to Miles, Latimer's case was initiated under the direction of former District Attorney Jerome J. Richards in early 2004. He said a local pharmacist had reported to the state police that Latimer had written an illegal prescription for methadone, a powerful narcotic. "Dr. Latimer subsequently submitted a written statement to the state police and admitted that he was illegally treating a patient for an opiate addiction with methadone without the required DEA authorization," Miles said. He alleged that when a state police investigator served Latimer with a patient authorization form to release records in mid-2004, he refused to do so. "Dr. Latimer illegally refuse to provide the police with the records or further cooperate with police in the inquiry," Miles said. At that point, the New York State Health Department Office of Professional Medical Misconduct initiated a disciplinary investigation and formally notified Latimer that an inquiry was ongoing. Miles said after Latimer allegedly refused to provide records to the state police investigator, a grand jury inquiry was initiated, Latimer was formally notified that he was the subject of the inquiry, "prompting the doctor to seek legal counsel," according to the acting district attorney. The Drug Enforcement Administration provided a special agent criminal investigator to look into the matter in late March 2005, Miles noted. He said the investigator visited pharmacies and hospitals throughout the county and learned that Latimer was well-known as an "easy prescriber" who frequently issued large quantities of controlled medications to persons without legitimate medical need. Three of the patients, a husband, wife and son, were allegedly prescribed 20,962 dosages units of narcotics in a two-year period. The DEA held two meetings with Latimer in May and August 2005 and laid ut the information they had obtained, Miles said. "The documents provided to Dr. Latimer by the DEA included detailed pharmacy records and a specially created patient profile made by the DEA that shows the excessive nature of Dr. Latimer's prescribing practices," he noted. Three of the patients, a husband, wife and son, were allegedly prescribed 20,962 dosage units of narcotics in a two-year period. Latimer also treated two sisters, issuing one sister prescriptions for 1,000 tablets of hydrocodone that she paid for in cash even though she was a Medicaid patient of another physician, Miles said. "However it was the second sister who was later determined to the top drug recipient in St. Lawrence County," he said. Over a two-year period, Latimer and three other doctors allegedly issued prescriptions for controlled medications that totaled 19, 144 dosage units. Latimer allegedly gave the patient multiple prescriptions on the same day that were filled at different pharmacies across the county. Following the August meeting, Miles said Latimer was told he could avoid prosecution if he surrendered his DEA registration and medical license. "This offer was made after detailed consultations with the DEA and the state Health Department (OPMC). Both agencies indicated that they would be satisfied with a credential surrender in lieu of prosecution, he said. He accepted the terms, and Miles said he agreed to "an unlimited grace period to allow Dr. Latimer to shut down his practice and refer his patients to new physicians. Dr. Latimer agreed to cease writing prescriptions for controlled medications during this period." Since then, the acting district attorney said he has been told that there has been a downturn in the availability of illegal prescription drugs on the streets, and the cost of a single dosage of certain prescription narcotics has as mush as doubled. "Dr. Latimer has a large patient load of legitimate patients, most of whom are not drug users or abusers. Dr. Latimer is losing the privilege to practice medicine due to his actions taken on behalf of a small minority of patients to whom he provided dangerous narcotic drugs over extended periods of time in such large quantities that they were sold on the black market," he said. Miles said he and the two investigators that spearheaded the investigation had met recently for two and a half hours with several members of the St. Lawrence County Medical Society to discuss the cases against Latimer and two other physicians. "At the end of this meeting, every one of the physicians voiced their approval and support of the actions taken by law enforcement," according to the acting district attorney. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin