DOCTOR FOUND GUILTY IN OXYCONTIN

Jury Finds That Physician Had No Legitimate Reason For Prescriptions

A physician was convicted Friday of writing hundreds of unnecessary
prescriptions for OxyContin and other drugs, feeding an addiction problem
that is gripping parts of Southwest Virginia.

After deliberating about 17 hours over three days, a jury in U.S. District
Court in Abingdon found Dr. Franklin Sutherland of Grundy guilty of writing
427 prescriptions for no legitimate medical purpose.

"Pills are a problem in Southwest Virginia," Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy
Ramseyer said. "And the only way you can get prescription pills is to go to
the doctor."

Prosecutors maintained that Sutherland either turned a blind eye to his
patients' substance-abuse problems or, in some cases, prescribed potent
painkillers knowing they were going to be abused by addicts.

Sutherland had faced 577 counts of writing illegal prescriptions at the
start of his two-week trial, but some of the charges were either dropped by
prosecutors or found by the jury to be without merit.

The jury convicted Sutherland, 47, on most of the counts that dealt with
Schedule II controlled substances such as OxyContin and Tylox, while
acquitting him more often for offenses involving less-potent drugs such as
Lorcet and Lortab.

An expert witness testified for the government that there was no legitimate
medical reason for Sutherland's patients to receive drugs. Jurors found
that was the case for about 3,100 OxyContin pills and about 8,600 Tylox pills.

Ramseyer suggested that Sutherland had a financial motive to write as many
prescriptions as possible, noting that the doctor was compensated each time
by an insurance plan or Medicaid.

"Somebody was paying for all those office visits," he said.

Defense attorney Thomas Dillard maintained that Sutherland was "a caring
and compassionate doctor" who tried his best to help people in pain. "Was
he fooled on occasion? Probably so," Dillard told the jury.

Sutherland, who faces a prison sentence in excess of 100 years, was allowed
to remain free on bond until sentencing.

The case is thought to be the state's largest prosecution to date involving
OxyContin, a prescription painkiller that drug abusers in far Southwest
Virginia grind into powder and then snort or inject for a heroin-like high.

Since 1998, there have been 43 fatal overdoses attributed to oxycodone, the
active ingredient in OxyContin, in Western Virginia. Police in the state's
coalfield counties say abuse of the drug has also spawned an increase in
crime as addicts cheat, steal and rob to support their habits.