DOCTOR ALLEGED TO BURN RECORDS

Federal Probe Sought the Files in Regard to OxyContin Abuse Case

ALEXANDRIA - A Northern Virginia doctor has been charged with setting
a fire in his office that destroyed records sought for a federal probe
into abuse of OxyContin and other pain-relieving drugs.

Hazem Garada, who practices internal medicine, was released after
posting a $1 million secured cash bond Thursday in U.S. District Court
in Alexandria. He was charged last week with a felony - destruction of
property used in interstate commerce.

According to a federal criminal complaint, Anthem Health Plans of
Virginia Inc. is investigating Garada's insurance claims. The company
sought to review patient files at Garada's office in McLean, and the
doctor had been delaying the review, the complaint said.

On Oct. 12, a fire in Garada's office burned papers, medical files and
portions of telephone books sitting on a table. The complaint, signed
by Lt. W. Allen Richardson of the Fairfax County Fire Department, said
the blaze was consistent with a fire originating from the center of
the table.

No one was injured.

Garada, who court records show is representing himself, could not be
reached yesterday at his home. Thursday, he hung up on a Washington
Post reporter.

Federal officials were seeking records from Garada in connection with
a wide-ranging probe into abuse of OxyContin, a painkiller hailed as a
miracle drug by cancer patients and others but with tremendous
potential for abuse and lethal overdose.

On Sept. 17, the complaint said, an FBI agent served Garada with a
subpoena to testify at the trial of Maurice Quiroz, described in court
documents as a big supplier of OxyContin to street distributors in
Northern Virginia and elsewhere.

Quiroz pleaded guilty in October to conspiracy to distribute oxycodone
and entering the United States after being deported. He faces up to 20
years in prison.

In the agent's presence, Garada asked his receptionist to search for
records to comply with the subpoena, which also sought all documents
relating to Quiroz, records show. Two files were found and were shown
to the agent, but Garada refused to hand them over, saying he "needed
to prepare notes to be added to the file," the complaint said.

After informing Garada that he should not create new documents, the
agent left. He returned later and obtained a file on Quiroz that
contained several computer-generated pages that had not been in the
file earlier, the complaint said.

Federal officials would not comment on Garada's relationship to Quiroz
or his role in the broader OxyContin probe.

More than 40 people have been convicted in the investigation. Another
McLean doctor, William E. Hurwitz, was charged in September with drug
trafficking resulting in the death of at least three patients,
engaging in a criminal enterprise, conspiracy and health care fraud.

Attorneys for the pain doctor contend he practices good medicine and
that the charges come from overzealous prosecutors.