Attorney for ex Williamsburg officer lays groundwork for defense in doctor shopping case

An attorney for a former Williamsburg police officer, who was arrested last week for doctor shopping, laid the groundwork Tuesday for a likely defense strategy, and got a key witness in the case to admit that the town’s current chief of police is the one who initially tipped state investigators.

Brad Boyd, a former sergeant with the Williamsburg Police Department, was silent during the entire length of a preliminary hearing in Whitley District Court on Tuesday while an investigator for the Kentucky Inspector General’s Office made public the details as to just how officials tracked Boyd’s visits to local doctors and what prescription pain medications he was receiving.
Chris Johnson, an agent with the Drug Enforcement Branch of the Inspector General’s Office, said Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird contacted him saying he suspected Boyd of "doctor shopping" – a term typically used to describe when someone goes to multiple physicians to get inappropriate amounts of drugs, usually painkillers, and not providing full information to each doctor about what they have been prescribed. He is officially charged with knowingly withholding information from a practitioner in order to get controlled substances.

Johnson said following Bird’s complaint, he used the state’s prescription controlled substance tracking database, called KASPER, in order to ascertain that Boyd had visited Dr. Michael Perkins, in Williamsburg, and Dr. Truman Perry, of Corbin, during five separate overlapping periods from March through July of this year. Each time he was prescribed 120 Ultram (Tramadol) pills by Perkins and 60 Percocet 10/650 pills by Perry. Johnson said Ultram is a Schedule IV controlled substance and Percocet is a Schedule II controlled substance. Drugs are typically "scheduled" according to their potential addictiveness – the lower the number, the more addictive a substance is considered to be.

Investigators contend that Boyd did not inform either Perry or Perkins what the other was prescribing and that the two drugs would not usually be taken together. Both are painkillers.

Perry and Perkins both signed questionnaires/affidavits which Johnson read in court, saying they felt Boyd had deceived them into prescribing the drugs to him. Johnson said he also interviewed the pharmacists that filled Boyd’s prescriptions.
Under cross-examination, Boyd’s attorney, Paul Croley, seemed to set up an argument that Boyd did not knowingly intend to break the law and would have no way of knowing that Ultram (Tramadol) was a controlled substance since it was just designated as such last December.

"Isn’t it true that only two states in the country classify Tramadol as a Schedule IV narcotic?," Croley asked.

"To the best of my knowledge, right now … yes," Johnson said.

Croley also asked if there was any notification system to let people know when a drug is scheduled, therefore making it illegal to be prescribed if a patient is taking a similar drug.

Johnson said he knew of no notification system, but that Bird seemed to know about the issues when he contacted investigators.

The argument could be the heart of the defense case at trial since the law requires prosecutors to prove Boyd knowingly and purposefully deceived doctors to get both drugs.

Croley also insinuated that Boyd could have been taking Tramadol for one particular kind of pain (it is sometimes prescribed to treat headaches) and Percocet to subdue pain from a broken hand he suffered during an on-duty car accident in March.
Johnson said he did not delve into any reasons why Boyd sought prescriptions for the drugs and only investigated whether he was, in fact, prescribed them.

Whitley District Judge Cathy Prewitt ruled enough evidence existed to forward the case to the Whitley County Grand Jury.
Boyd served as an officer with the Williamsburg Police Department from April 1999 until Aug. of this year. Prior to resigning from the department, he was placed on suspension in late July after failing a drug test. He tested positive for opiates. In 2008, he was suspended for four days without pay for getting drunk in a Corbin bar. Between the two suspensions, he received a promotion.

Boyd was arrested last Monday and is currently free, pending trial, on $7,500 cash bond.