HARLAN DOCTOR SAYS POLICE LIED TO GET OXYCONTIN

A Harlan physician facing 20 years in prison for allegedly
prescribing drugs without a legitimate medical purpose testified
yesterday that police deceived him to get OxyContin.

Dr. Ali Sawaf took the stand in his own defense yesterday and was
expected to finish under cross-examination today.

The jury is expected to begin deliberations Wednesday.

Sawaf said police officers investigating his prescribing practices
lied to him about their ailments to get him to prescribe an
assortment of painkillers, including OxyContin. The powerful drug has
been blamed for dozens of overdose deaths in Kentucky.

If he had known the officers were not in pain, Sawaf said he
``absolutely and categorically'' wouldn't have prescribed the drugs.
He said he had to make a judgment about whether the patients truly
were suffering.

``There's no litmus paper to tell you about pain,'' he said.

Sawaf, 60, has been on trial in U.S. District Court in Pikeville
since Jan. 16. Besides prison time, he faces a $1 million fine if
convicted on the federal charges.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger West said in his opening statement that
the physician was seeing up to 100 patients a day and that he did no
physical exams and took no medical histories before writing
prescriptions for OxyContin and other painkillers.

OxyContin is intended for cancer patients and others suffering from
chronic pain. If taken properly, the drug's ingredients are released
slowly into the body. But abusers circumvent the time-release by
crushing the pills and inhaling or injecting the powder to get the
same kind of euphoric high that heroin brings.