ABSENT WITNESS CAUSES 1 CHARGE TO BE DROPPED

Executive Director Of Pain Clinic Testifies During OxyContin Trial

Federal prosecutors on Monday dropped one criminal charge against Dr.
Deborah Bordeaux, formerly of the Comprehensive Care and Pain Management
Center in Myrtle Beach, because a witness couldn't appear in court.

The witness, who was in Florence last week and ready to testify,
subsequently became too ill to appear in court, Assistant U.S. Attorney
William E. Day II said Monday.

Prosecutors expect to try Bordeaux on her remaining charges and aren't
likely to recall the witness.

The development, which helped cut short a day of testimony in court, came
hours after Windy Suggs, the pain center's former executive director,
testified against Bordeaux and two other doctors who once worked there.

It's not likely the potential maximum sentence for Bordeaux will change
because of the dismissal of one count of distribution of OxyContin. That
charge alone carries a maximum of 20 years in prison upon conviction.

"Any time a charge is dropped, it is favorable for my client," said
Bordeaux's lawyer, Scott Joye of Murrells Inlet.

Bordeaux and two other doctors from the defunct pain center face charges in
a 93-count indictment related to the illegal distribution of controlled
substances.

Each is charged in the indictment with conspiracy to launder money, a
charge that includes fraud allegations and carries a maximum sentence of 20
years. They also are charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled
substances, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years to life in prison.

In addition, specific charges listed in the indictment for each doctor are:

Five for Dr. Michael Jackson related to the distribution of OxyContin and
Percocet

Nine for Dr. Ricardo Alerre for distribution of OxyContin

Now three for Bordeaux for distribution of OxyContin

For more than a week, prosecution witnesses testified that doctors at the
pain center improperly issued narcotics prescriptions and ordered tests,
all the while operating behind a facade of legitimacy.

The testimony continued Monday with Suggs saying she didn't remember an
instance when a patient wasn't prescribed a narcotic on their first visit,
which, according to earlier testimony, was not proper protocol.

Suggs promised to testify against other defendants after pleading guilty to
conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and money laundering
conspiracy charges in the federal indictment.

She also testified she had seen Jackson presign prescriptions for patients
when he had to leave work early. Jackson also dismissed patients when he
learned they abused drugs received from the clinic.

Suggs said Bordeaux once told her she fast-tracked patients, a term the
clinic's doctors used for visiting with several patients at once to issue
prescriptions.

But she said she never saw Bordeaux presign blank prescriptions.

Alerre usually worked beside Dr. D. Michael Woodward and signed
prescriptions for patients Woodward had seen, Suggs said.

But she said a practice of visiting with more than one patient ended before
Alerre joined the clinic.

While Woodward testified last week he hired doctors who understood they
were to perform cursory exams then issue prescriptions for narcotics, Suggs
said she thought the practice was legitimate.

"If I knew it was illegal, I would have quit," she said. She worked at the
center from February 1997 through October 2001, which included the duration
of the federal investigation.

Investigators also determined the business earned more than $6 million
during that time.

Experts are expected to testify for the prosecution when court resumes today.