Pubdate: Fri, 22 Feb 2002 Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA) Copyright: 2002 Richmond Newspapers Inc Contact: http://www.timesdispatch.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/365 Author: Rex Bowman DOCTOR PLEADS NOT GUILTY Knox Faces Charges Related To OxyContin ROANOKE - Standing before his loyal patients, a Roanoke doctor pleaded not guilty yesterday to federal charges that he overprescribed OxyContin and other drugs that allegedly killed or injured 10 people. Dr. Cecil Knox is the latest in a growing number of doctors to be accused of contributing to a nationwide scourge of OxyContin abuse. Knox's arraignment brought tears to the eyes of some of his patients. Nearly 50 of them showed up in U.S. District Court to offer their support. After the two-minute hearing, many of them fervently told reporters that only Knox among all the doctors in Roanoke can adequately treat their chronic pain. "Nobody has been interested so far in why we depend on Dr. Knox," said 30-year-old Melissa Smith, a patient of Knox's for four years. "It has nothing to do with the fact that he gives us medicine. It's his knowledge. The reason we are dependent on him is because he has specialized qualifications in how to treat the human body." However, federal prosecutors allege that Knox profited by knowingly prescribing OxyContin to addicts. Hailed as a godsend for cancer patients and others with crippling pain, OxyContin also has been prone to abuse, giving illicit users a heroinlike high. Five doctors in Southwest Virginia have been sentenced on OxyContin-related charges, and earlier this week, a Florida doctor became the first in the nation to be convicted of manslaughter after four of his patients overdosed on OxyContin. Knox, 52, faces 10 counts of illegally distributing medication for no legitimate medical purpose "resulting in serious bodily injury or death," according to the indictment against him. Charged along with Knox are his nurse, Beverly Gale Boone, 43, of Roanoke, and Tiffany T. Durham, 28, of Blue Ridge, who operated a prescription refill "hot line" in Knox's clinic, known as Virginia Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. The three face a charge of conspiring to illegally distribute drugs for no legitimate medical purpose and 15 additional counts each of illegally distributing drugs. Yesterday Durham, standing near Knox, also pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors allege Knox's office has been illegally selling pills since 1992, but mostly since 1996, after OxyContin first became available. The indictment alleges that Knox and his two assistants overprescribed not just OxyContin, but a variety of drugs including methadone, oxycodone, Dilaudid, Duragesic, Xanax, Diazepam and Ambien. If convicted, Knox could face life in prison, a fine of $27.05 million and the forfeiture of $1 million in personal property and real estate in Virginia and Idaho. Boone and Durham also face life in prison and multimillion-dollar fines if convicted of all counts. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth