PROSECUTOR COMPARES DOC TO DRUG DEALER

MILTON, Fla. -- A doctor on trial for the deaths of four patients who
overdosed on OxyContin is no different from a drug dealer, a
prosecutor said Monday in closing arguments.

Witnesses testified that crowds of patients ate lunch or worked on
their cars in the parking lot of Dr. James Graves' office, giving each
other high fives when they came out with prescriptions, Assistant
State Attorney Russell Edgar said.

"You've got to realize something's wrong when outside your office
people are having tailgate parties," Edgar said.

Graves, 55, testified that he did not know his patients were abusing
drugs and said no one would have died if OxyContin had been taken as
prescribed.

"OxyContin is a good drug if it is taken properly," said defense
lawyer H.E. Ellis Jr. "Pharmacy companies don't spend billions of
dollars developing drugs if they are going to kill people."

But prosecutors contend Graves knew or should have known that his
booming practice was made up largely of drug addicts seeking
prescriptions for OxyContin and other narcotics popular on the street.

The six-member jury is expected to begin deliberating Tuesday. A
guilty verdict would make Graves the first doctor in the nation
convicted of manslaughter or murder in the deaths of patients due to
OxyContin overdoses.

Graves is charged with racketeering, four counts of manslaughter
through culpable negligence and five counts of unlawful delivery of a
controlled substance. If convicted on all counts, Graves could face up
to 30 years in state prison.

Edgar said Graves needed money after he was forced out of the Navy and
fired from jobs at a Pensacola pain clinic and a state prison. He said
the money rolled in as patients, most paying cash, returned repeatedly
to feed their addictions.

"Word spread that he was the go-to doctor," Edgar said. "He's no
different than a drug dealer."

Ellis admitted that Graves' record keeping was poor, but said jurors
would find evidence of a doctor practicing medicine, not
indiscriminately prescribing drugs.

OxyContin is a 12-hour synthetic opiate. Addicts defeat the time delay
and get a heroin-like high by chewing the pills or crushing them and
then injecting the drug.

Two dozen pharmacists testified they stopped filling what they called
"Graves cocktails" that included Lortab, another painkiller, the
tranquilizer Xanax and the muscle relaxant Soma besides OxyContin.

"Each one of these were popular street drugs," Edgar told the jury.
"In the case of OxyContin, one pill sold for $50. The defendant knew
that."