GRAND JURY GETS CASE ABOUT HIGH DOSES OF PAINKILLERS

NORFOLK -- Edward S. Baker was a successful lawyer in Pennsylvania when an
accident caused him years of intense pain and sent him spiraling into
addiction to a heroin-strength prescription medication. Baker, 47, argues
that he needed upwards of 50 pills of the pain medication Dilaudid daily,
plus more than 30 Valium tablets to control his pain and addiction.

Federal prosecutors, however, say Baker needed all the medication to fuel
his private drug-sales enterprise. They say he obtained 50,000 Dilaudid
pills over three years and sold them for about $10 each. At that price,
they contend, he possibly earned a half-million dollars.

At a court hearing Tuesday, a federal magistrate found that the government
had provided enough evidence to send the case to a grand jury. Baker was
charged last week with distributing narcotics and illegally possessing
firearms, felonies that can put him behind bars for 15 to 20 years if he is
convicted.

Magistrate Judge Tommy E. Miller also ordered Baker to be detained in jail
without bond pending trial.

``It seems to me that if he was taking 54 pills a day,'' Miller said, ``we
wouldn't be dealing with a detention, we'd be dealing with a funeral.''

Miller also allowed Baker to undergo a mental evaluation to determine if he
is competent to stand trial.

Born and raised in Norfolk, Baker was working as a Pennsylvania assistant
state's attorney handling workers' compensation claims in 1992 when a
hospital patient in a wheelchair ran over his foot.

Baker suffered extensive injuries to his foot, which led to Reflex
Sympathetic Dystrophy, a condition that is sometimes extremely painful,
according to the Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome Association of
America. Symptoms include shooting pain through the body, swelling and
extreme sensitivity to touch.

As a result, Baker became addicted to pain medication, said his lawyer,
Andrew Sacks. The pills became medically necessary to control the pain and
the addiction, Sacks said.

Baker's law career ended, Sacks told the judge, and he now lives on $1,500
in monthly disability payments.

Court papers say that the Norfolk psychiatrist David Reid prescribed 750
Dilaudid tablets to Baker every 15 days, along with 500 Valium pills.

Dilaudid, generically called hydromorphone, is a narcotic eight times more
potent than morphine and is sometimes called ``drugstore heroin,''
according to pharmacology experts. It is highly addictive. A typical dosage
is 4 milligrams every four to six hours, they said. Baker was receiving
more than eight times that amount.

Reid said in an interview that he could not comment on his patients, or
even acknowledge if Baker was one of his patients.

But generally, he said, patients often require higher doses of medication
than what is recommended by the drug maker.

``Physicians often treat conditions that are chronic and have quite a bit
of pain associated with it,'' Reid said. ``You have to individualize it.''

Baker was arrested by Norfolk police in July after an informant told
detectives that Baker was selling prescription pills from his apartment in
the 400 block of Dundaff St. in The Hague section of Norfolk.

Police raided the apartment and discovered 370 Dilaudid pills and 288
Valium tablets, court records say.

Police also had been concerned by reports that Baker was heavily armed.
Witnesses told police that Baker frequently wore two shoulder holsters,
with a .45-caliber gun in each, and carried a .357-caliber handgun in his
back pocket, according to court documents.

But Baker was arrested at his apartment without incident.

Police confiscated the guns, as well as 361 knives and 15 swords, according
to Jay D. Seacrist, a Norfolk police officer assigned to the federal Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which took over the case.

Seacrist said in court that the knives and swords appeared to be collectors
items.

Sacks said Baker was forced to quit the drugs cold turkey when he was
arrested. He said Baker remains in pain but receives over-the-counter
medication in jail.