No Pleas Entered in Painkiller Sales Case

By Tracy Wilson

Dec. 16, 2003 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

An Oxnard physician and a Ventura pharmacist appeared in federal court Monday to answer charges that they conspired to sell tens of thousands of addictive painkillers to patients.

Dr. Michael B. Huff, 55, and pharmacist Richard Ozar, 58, did not enter pleas during their first appearance in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. But their attorneys said the men will plead not guilty to a 90-count federal indictment at a case status conference scheduled for Feb. 20.

“We expect to prove at trial that [the doctor] was exercising his best judgment in treating every patient, including those the government has taken issue with,” said Los Angeles attorney Mark E. Beck, who represents Huff.

Beck declined to discuss the specifics of the indictment but said his client “is a very compassionate doctor who is beloved by many, many patients and who has devoted his life to his practice.”

Santa Monica attorney Victor Sherman, who represents Ozar, has previously suggested that the government is trying to make an example of the pharmacist amid a national debate about pain management.

“There is a dispute in the medical community about how many painkillers people can take,” Sherman said in a recent interview. “It is up to a doctor to make that determination.”

After Monday’s court appearance, Sherman limited his remarks but reiterated an earlier statement that Ozar, owner of Victoria Village Pharmacy, has done nothing wrong.

Huff and Ozar were arrested Dec. 1 after a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging them with conspiracy and illegal drug distribution.

The indictment specifically charges Huff and Ozar with conspiracy to distribute five prescription drugs -- Oxycontin, Roxicodone, Methadone, Hydromorphone and Actiq -- in violation of federal law. It alleges that Huff prescribed drugs to people regardless of whether they were medically necessary and in doses exceeding manufacturers’ recommendations to increase his patient base.

The conspiracy extended to Ozar, according to the indictment, because the pharmacist knew the drugs were not medically necessary. Huff is charged with 55 counts of unlawful distribution of drugs, and Ozar is charged with 33 counts of unlawful distribution.

Beck hinted that the case would likely turn on a patient-by-patient analysis and could boil down to conflicting testimony about what constitutes proper pain treatment.

He told U.S. District Court Judge Gary A. Feess: “We may very well have a battle of experts, your honor.”