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.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin