A pain management physician testified that Anna Nicole Smith was not addicted to drugs. This testimony contradicts a prosecutor who believed the late model’s prescriptions for 1,500 puts a single month equaled an addiction.
"It speaks to potential danger and risk to the patient, but it doesn’t speak to addiction," said Dr. Perry G. Fine, in court testimony on Wednesday.
Dr. Fine testified as a witness for the defense and said the risk might be toxicity if she took all of the drugs. Fine said Smith’s medical records showed "no indication of actual harm."
The definition of an addict is key to the case against Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, and Smith’s lawyer Howard K. Stern. The three are accused of providing drugs to an addict, but are not charged in causing Smith’s death from a drug overdose in 2007. The three have pleaded not guilty.
Fine said he thought Smith had a high tolerance for drugs but was not addicted. Fine testified that Smith’s medical records indicated she had suffered fractured ribs and was looking for relief from chronic pain. Fine said that while the 1,500 pills were "a lot of drugs" it was "antiquated thinking" to equate the number of pills with addiction.
The pills that Smith was taking included opiates and muscle relaxants.
"The disease of addiction is viewed as largely present in genetic factors, and it takes social and environmental factors to bring it out," Fine said.
