Opinion ID: 1058635
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: evidence of prescription drug abuse

Text: Dr. Louis Eliacin, a gynecologist, treated Lewis for 15 years. He testified that he performed four surgeries on Lewis and prescribed pain medication to relieve various problems Lewis had related to ovarian cysts and endometriosis. According to Dr. Eliacin, at some point during his treatment of Lewis, he determined that Lewis was addicted to pain medication, and he recommended that she seek help for her addiction. Dr. Eliacin's medical records showed that on October 1, 2002, a staff member in his office informed Lewis that Dr. Eliacin would no longer prescribe pain medication for her. Grey testified that Lewis had a long history of medical problems, including various surgeries and diagnoses of anxiety and depression. Grey, a certified substance abuse counselor, opined that Lewis was addicted to prescription medication. According to Grey, her review of Lewis' pharmaceutical and medical records from 2002 showed that four doctors simultaneously prescribed narcotics for Lewis. Grey also determined that during this time period, in addition to narcotics, Lewis also used a variety of other mind and mood altering medications, including muscle relaxants, sedatives, and antidepressants. Several witnesses reported that Lewis took pain medications prescribed for other persons, including family members, a friend, and Julian. Lewis' father and sister both stated that Lewis often took too much pain medication and that, when she did this, her speech was slurred, she did not act herself, and she talked out of her mind. According to Lewis' sister, Cynthia D.W. Sams, Lewis' behavior was affected by her overuse of pain medication in the fall of 2002. Lewis' father, Wilson, testified that he witnessed Lewis two days before the murders acting as if she had taken too many pills. Dr. McCance-Katz opined that Lewis had been severely addicted to a variety of medications and to alcohol. This conclusion was based on her interview with Lewis and a review of Lewis' pharmaceutical records. Relying on these sources, Dr. McCance-Katz determined that as of October 15, 2002, Lewis was taking migraine headache medication and narcotics, and that these drugs generally impair a person's thinking, reasoning, judgment, and concentration. Dr. McCance-Katz concluded that the large amounts of medications Lewis was taking around the time of the murders could have caused her to appear uncaring and have little expression. Dr. Haskins testified that at the time of her assessment of Lewis' competency to stand trial, she had concluded that Lewis had a narcotic dependence. David A. Furrow, also trial counsel for Lewis, acknowledged that he and Blaylock knew about Lewis' prescription drug abuse. Furrow explained, however, that no evidence showed that Lewis was under the influence of drugs at the time of the offenses, and that Lewis denied taking any drugs during that time. Lewis also had told police during the videotaped interview that she had disposed of her pain medication before the time of the murders. According to Blaylock, in his experience trying capital murder cases, he had never seen success with people using [the excuse that] I was taking drugs voluntarily and therefore I should be excused for committing murder. Dr. Hagan testified that the evidence was insufficient to conclude that Lewis suffered from drug addiction. Dr. Hagan noted in his report that to the extent Lewis was abusing prescription medication, that abuse did not cause any extreme mental or emotional disturbance. In addition, according to a nurse from the jail where Lewis initially was incarcerated, Lewis made no medical complaints of drug withdrawal or other symptoms during her stay in the jail from the beginning of November 2002 through December 2002.