Pubdate: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 Source: Charlotte Observer (NC) Copyright: 2002 The Charlotte Observer Contact: http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/78 Author: Cristina C. Breen, Staff Writer S.C. DOCTOR GRILLED OVER PILL PRESCRIBING RALEIGH -- An N.C. Medical Board lawyer on Thursday painted Joseph Talley as a physician who failed to examine his patients and kept prescribing narcotics to patients he knew were addicts. Talley defended his practice, saying "I don't know anything more pure than relieving pain." The remarks came during the first day of a hearing to decide whether the Cleveland County doctor can keep his medical license. The federal Drug Enforcement Administration in February suspended his license to prescribe narcotics after alleging 23 of his patients died of overdoses. The medical board alleges Talley didn't follow proper medical procedure when prescribing narcotics in 24 cases because he failed to examine patients or follow up to make sure they were taking the drugs properly. The board also says Talley failed to try non-narcotic therapy for pain patients. He is also accused of stockpiling the weight-loss drug Fen-Phen and taking it without a prescription. "Dr. Talley is going to want this to be a referendum on the treatment of pain," said William Breeze, a lawyer for the medical board, in his opening statement. "We're not saying you can't treat pain. We're saying you've got to follow (proper procedure)." Talley closed his eyes and appeared to nod off during the opening statements. He became more animated when he was questioned for about two hours, explaining his methods and philosophy behind treating pain and how he grew his 3,000-patient general practice clinic in Grover into a pain center. He said he doesn't always use diagnostic tests on chronic pain patients because he finds them useless in many cases and too expensive for the poor. He said he doesn't always order lab tests to determine whether patients are sticking with their medication regimen because the results are often inaccurate. Talley's lawyer, Robert Clay, said the board brought charges against Talley without warning. Clay presented evidence that Talley had been corresponding with the board since 1988, when he went before it to discuss how he was treating large numbers of patients with a powerful psychiatric drug. At the request of the medical board in 1990, two medical professors at Duke University and UNC Chapel Hill reviewed Talley's patient records and found no problems, Clay said. Clay said Talley continued to update the board on his growing practice. He never got a response, Clay said. "No one suggested Dr. Talley was doing anything wrong before he got slammed with these allegations," Clay said. Clay portrayed Talley as a doctor who reaped relatively small financial gain from his practice, earning $140,000 in his most lucrative year. As the afternoon wore on, two board members also appeared to doze during the hearing. But they became alert during the testimony of Fayleen Huffstetler, an admitted recovering drug addict from Cherryville whose husband, Roger, died of an Oxycodone overdose last April. Huffstetler testified Talley prescribed narcotics for both her and her husband even though he knew they were drug addicts. She said Talley would mail her prescriptions to Georgia when they lived there from 1984 to 2000, even though she told him she was addicted. Clay is expected to present Talley's case today. The hearing could last until Saturday. - --- MAP posted-by: Jackl