Commonwealth v. Wood

The defendant, a practicing dentist, appeals from convictions on two counts of an indictment charging that he issued prescriptions for controlled substances: percodan in the first count and demerol in the second, the prescriptions “not being issued for a legitimate medical purpose in the usual course of his professional practice.” See G. L. c. 94C, § 19(a), inserted by St. 1971, c. 1071, § 1.

1. The following is a summary of the evidence introduced by the close of the Commonwealth’s case (see Commonwealth v. Kelley, 370 Mass. 147, 149-150 [1976]) which we deem ample to warrant the jury in…