DOCTOR GUILTY IN 4 DEATHS TIED TO A DRUG

A Florida doctor was found guilty of manslaughter yesterday in connection
with the deaths of four patients from drug overdoses involving the powerful
painkiller OxyContin.

A jury in a state circuit court in Milton, Fla., deliberated for a day
before finding the doctor, James Graves, guilty of four counts of
manslaughter, one count of racketeering and five counts of unlawful
delivery of a controlled substance. Dr. Graves, who was once Florida's
biggest prescriber of OxyContin, faces 30 years in prison.

Yesterday's verdict is the first in which a doctor has been found guilty of
manslaughter in connection with prescribing OxyContin, a time-released
narcotic that has been widely abused. Federal officials have said misuse of
the drug was a likely factor in about 300 overdose deaths in the last two
years.

In his closing arguments, Russ Edgar, an assistant state attorney,
described Dr. Graves, who practiced in Pace, a town near Pensacola Bay, as
"no more that a drug dealer." Mr. Edgar said the doctor ran a "prescription
mill," recklessly writing orders for OxyContin and other narcotics for
anyone willing to pay the price of an office visit, an enterprise that
netted Dr. Graves $500,000 a year.

OxyContin was not the only drug involved in the patients' deaths, Mr. Edgar
said, and Dr. Graves also prescribed drugs including Lortab, another
painkiller.

Dr. Graves's lawyers argued throughout the trial that the physician had
followed standard medical practice and could not be held responsible for
what patients did with the drugs he prescribed.

Michael Gibson and other defense lawyers tried to frame the trial as a
debate over pain treatment, describing Dr. Graves as a sympathetic doctor
duped by addicts.

"Addicts are not dumb," Mr. Gibson said in his opening arguments. "They
lie, make up things and exaggerate things."

OxyContin, when properly used, releases timed doses of the synthetic opiate
oxycodone. It was marketed by Purdue Pharma of Stamford, Conn., as less
prone to misuse than other narcotics. But abusers quickly learned they
could defeat the pill's safeguard by crushing it and get far higher doses
of the narcotic than they could from similar drugs.

In an effort to crack down on the drug's abuse, state officials have
charged at least two other doctors with murder or manslaughter in
connection with patient overdose deaths. One of those doctors is also in
Florida, and the other is in California.

It is rare for doctors to be charged with such serious crimes in connection
with patients' overdose deaths. Several legal experts had questioned
whether prosecutors would be able to convince jurors to convict Dr. Graves
of manslaughter.

After hearing the verdict yesterday, Dr. Graves, appearing composed, turned
and walked to the rail, where he was met by family members who hugged and
kissed him before he was led out of the courthouse to a waiting police car.

His defense lawyers had no comment after the verdict.

The parents of Jeffrey Daniels, one of Dr. Graves's patients who died, had
attended the six-week trial since its start. They tried to stifle sobs
after the guilty verdicts were read.

Raymond Daniels Jr. and his wife, Jane, the parents of Jeffrey Daniels,
said they hoped that yesterday's verdict saves other people from doctors
who overprescribe OxyContin and other powerful drugs.

"I do hope some good comes from it," Mr. Daniels said. "We're not only glad
to see this doctor pay for what he did to our son and others but glad it
may help other people in the same situation."