Oklahoma City pharmacist charged with murder in woman's overdose death

Saturday, April 16th 2005, 11:53 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Second-degree murder charges were filed Friday against an Oklahoma City pharmacist accused of illegally dispensing prescription drugs to a woman who later died of a drug overdose.

James M. Swaim, 53, also was charged with two felony counts of illegal distribution of a controlled dangerous substance.

Swaim was the owner and registered pharmacist at the Buy for Less Pharmacy, 2500 N. Pennsylvania in Oklahoma City, investigators said.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in the case, Swaim prescribed more than 19,000 tablets of controlled dangerous drugs to a woman named Creta Powers from Jan. 2, 2002 until April 28, 2002. The drugs included Hydromorphone, Endocet, Oxycontin, Meperidine and Diazepem, investigators said.

Powers, who obtained the drugs using fraudulent prescriptions under the name Casey Cook, died of an overdose of the drug Oxycontin on April 19, 2002, the affidavit stated.

``The investigation revealed that the only source of Oxycontin for Cook was the massive amount dispensed to her by Swaim's pharmacy,'' Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics agent Terra Gibson wrote in the affidavit.

Gibson said Swaim also dispensed Oxycontin to a woman on April 28, 2002, who claimed to be picking up the prescription for Powers but who did not have written prescription.

Over a seven-year period from January 1995 to April 2002, Swaim prescribed more than $85,000 worth of drugs to Powers, investigators allege.

The Oklahoma State Pharmacy Board suspended Swaim's license in 2004 for professional misconduct. As part of that order, Swaim acknowledged he had reason to believe Powers was drug dependent and that he should have known filling the woman's prescriptions was potentially harmful, the affidavit states.

A spokeswoman for Oklahoma County District Attorney Wes Lane said she's unaware of murder charges every being filed against a pharmacist for illegally dispensing drugs.

``We think it might be the first case of its type ever in Oklahoma County, and maybe in the state,'' said spokeswoman Debra Forshee. ``But with those kinds of drugs, that's a huge number of tabs for one person.

``In our book, there's no way he shouldn't have questioned it or called a doctor to check the prescription slip.''

Swaim was booked into Oklahoma County jail Friday and held without bail.