LEWISBURG DOCTOR PLEADS TO DRUG CHARGE

LEWISBURG - A Lewisburg physician pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court
to unauthorized distribution of OxyContin, a highly abused pain-killer. Dr.
John Jason Amar faces up to 20 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Chuck
Chambers set sentencing for Nov. 26.

Amar, 44, agreed to surrender his DEA prescription certificate as part of a
plea agreement, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Crawford.

A federal Drug Enforcement Administration investigation revealed Amar had
prescribed OxyContin and other prescription drugs to former girlfriend
Faith Kincaid and others, the prosecutor said.

"He was prescribing medication for her and her friends - a lot of them -
without any legitimate medical purpose," Crawford said. "We came up with a
total of 86 grams of Schedule II drugs, mostly OxyContin," Crawford said.

The bogus prescriptions lasted from August 2000 to May 2001, she said.

Testimony at Tuesday's hearing in Huntington indicated that at one point
Amar injected Kincaid with OxyContin, Crawford said. Amar, himself, abused
OxyContin and Demerol, she added.

Chambers released Amar on $10,000 bond and ordered him to undergo random
drug testing.

The judge also ordered Amar not to have any contact with the Greenbrier
County prosecutor's office. Earlier this year, that office obtained a
conviction against Amar for domestic battery for an altercation involving
Kincaid at Amar's Lewisburg home. He was sentenced to two days in jail,
three days' home confinement and fined $250.

The federal charges were filed July 27 in U.S. District Court in Beckley.

Amar was also charged with mail fraud for allegedly billing an insurance
company for services he did not perform. But that charge was dismissed as
part of the plea agreement, Crawford said.

According to the charge, on Sept. 11, 2000, Amar prescribed Lortab, a
narcotic, and Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, to "a social acquaintance" and
later billed the individual's insurance company for an $80 office visit. No
actual medical service was provided, prosecutors said.

As part of the plea agreement, Amar will make restitution to Carelink for
the $80 charge and will reimburse the federal Medicaid program for $1,500
in additional false charges, Crawford said.

Amar has closed his Lewisburg office, Crawford said.

He is still licensed to practice medicine, according to the West Virginia
Board of Medicine.

In 1995, Amar voluntary surrendered his license for a month and a half,
board officials said.

Amar was represented by Charleston attorney Greg Campbell.