PATIENTS TESTIFY THEY WERE ADDICTED

Dr. James Graves knew some of his patients were abusing drugs because he
saw needle marks in their arms, but he still wrote prescriptions for them,
several former patients told a jury Friday.

Eight people were among the first patients to testify at the trial of the
Pace doctor, who is charged with manslaughter, unlawful delivery of a
controlled substance and racketeering.

If Graves, 54, is convicted, he could face 15 to 30 years in prison.

"He knows what I was doing," said Jeffrey Barnhill, who went to Graves
until the physician's practice closed in June 2000. "He knows what we were
all doing."

Former patient Jeffrey Barnhill shows scars on his arm from intravenous use
of Oxycontin. Barnhill was testifying Friday against Dr. James Graves, who
is charged with manslaughter, unlawful delivery of a controlled substance
and racketeering.

The prosecution claims Graves is responsible for the deaths of four
patients who overdosed and for prescribing strong narcotics for patients
who did not need them. The motive, the prosecution contends, was to make money.

The defense counters that most patients were addicts who lied to Graves
about their symptoms to get the drugs they craved. He accepted cash, the
defense says, because the patients generally did not have health insurance.

The month-long trial is in Santa Rosa County before Circuit Judge Kenneth Bell.

Testimony Friday showed Graves performed little or no physical exams on the
30 or so patients he saw daily at his office on U.S. 90 in Milton.

Patients almost always left with the same combination of medications:
OxyContin, Lortab, Soma and Xanax. Local pharmacists dubbed it the "Graves
cocktail."

OxyContin is a time-released painkiller containing oxycodone. It is meant
to be taken orally by people in severe pain. Addicts, however, crush the
pills and snort them, or mix the crushed substance with water, heat it and
inject the mixture.

James Bennett, another former patient, said the doctor almost always had
his prescriptions already written.

Bennett said he took no steps to hide the needle marks in his right arm and
was questioned only once about them by one of Graves' assistants.

Bennett said Graves stopped seeing him only after Bennett was arrested.

Dana Black, also a former patient, said she told Graves she was addicted to
narcotics, and he continued to write her prescriptions for the mix, which
included Valium, even after a stint in rehab at Lakeview Center.

Black said she went to the psychiatric facility to try to kick her
addiction, but relapsed. She went back to seeing Graves and told him about
her stay at Lakeview.

"I still left with my prescriptions," Black testified.

Still another patient, James Cohron, said Graves asked about the needle
marks in his arms and told him he "shouldn't be doing that," but also still
wrote prescriptions.

Cohron, who is serving a 12-year prison sentence for vehicular homicide,
said the OxyContin gave him an "intense high."

"I didn't have any control over (the drug). It was controlling me," Cohron
said. "I had to have it."

Linda Atwell, who did office work for Graves and was his medical assistant,
testified she regularly saw patients with needle marks in their arms.
Sometimes, they were scabbed. Sometimes, they were bruised.

Atwell, also a patient, said she once became so concerned about Graves'
prescriptions that she called the mother of a young woman and told the
woman her daughter should find another doctor.

"She was very young and I was afraid for her life," Atwell said.

Barnhill, Bennett, and another former patient, Lynn Bates, all showed the
11-person jury their arms and hands, scarred from years of drug use. They
all said they now are drug-free.

During questioning from defense attorneys, several patients admitted, at
times, they lied to Graves about their symptoms to get the drugs.

"I caused myself to be an addict," Cohron said. "He just helped me along."

What's next

Testimony in the Graves case continues Monday. Although the Santa Rosa
County Courthouse is closed, the trial still will continue in Milton.