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BRIDGEWATER, N.S. – The case of a Nova Scotia doctor accused of prescribing 50,000 pills to one hospital patient resumes today in a Bridgewater courtroom.
It’s expected there will be a ruling on admissibility of evidence in the trial for Dr. Sarah Jones, who has pleaded not guilty to charges including trafficking prescription painkillers, drawing a document without authority and fraud.
The case had been bogged down by legal wrangling over evidence and a bid by defence lawyers to exclude comments the doctor made to medical regulators.
A lawyer for Jones said her constitutional rights would be violated if early information she provided to the Nova Scotia College of Physicians and Surgeons is allowed in the trial.
Lawyer Stan MacDonald says his client has the right to be free from the Crown using self-incriminating evidence against her.
When charges were laid over a year ago, Bridgewater police and the federal Crown alleged that Jones wrote the prescription for oxycodone and oxyneo pills over a one-year period to a hospital patient, but the drugs were diverted into the community.