Pubdate: Sat, 01 Nov 2003 Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA) Copyright: 2003 Richmond Newspapers Inc. Contact: http://www.timesdispatch.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/365 Author: Rex Bowman, Times-Dispatch Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Knox Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain) NO CONVICTIONS AGAINST PHYSICIAN Accusations Against Pain Doctor End in Not Guilty Verdicts and Indecision ROANOKE - Federal prosecutors failed to win a single conviction yesterday against a Roanoke doctor they had accused of illegally prescribing medicine that contributed to the deaths of seven patients. After a seven-week trial and more than a week of deliberating in U.S. District Court, a jury found Dr. Cecil Knox not guilty of about 30 of the 69 charges against him. Jurors were unable to reach a verdict on the remaining counts, prompting Chief U.S. District Judge Samuel Wilson to declare a mistrial. Though Knox could face retrial on those remaining counts - three of which charge him with contributing to patients' death or serious bodily injury - he left the courtroom at 6:15 p.m. yesterday crying tears of joy. "Right now, there is no anxiety," said a tearful Knox, 54. "I feel very good and very positive about the future. I think I'm going to be back, my practice will be back." "I just want to savor the moment," said Knox's wife, Donna, as she dabbed tears from her eyes. "I'm just thankful. It's been a long time filled with fear and anxiety, and now it's over." In seven weeks of testimony, prosecutors alleged that Knox ran a "pill mill" from his office on Roanoke's Second Street, handing prescriptions for powerful drugs like OxyContin and methadone to known addicts and others who came to see him with stories of severe pain. Knox's eagerness to prescribe potent drugs contributed to the deaths of seven patients, prosecutors alleged. In one year alone, Knox wrote prescriptions for $1.6 million worth of OxyContin, according to testimony, becoming the 19th leading prescriber of the drug in the nation. Yesterday, prosecutors hurriedly left the courthouse after the verdict was announced, mostly avoiding the swarm of reporters who had gathered in the lobby. Assistant U.S. Attorney C. Patrick Hogeboom III, who helped prosecute the case, declined to comment. While the two dozen Knox supporters in the courtroom greeted the verdicts with cries of elation, others were surprised and disappointed. They left the courtroom in tears. "I'm stunned, just stunned," said a weeping Tammy Akers, clutching a photo of her brother Tracy's grave. Tracy Akers, paralyzed from the neck down from gunshot wounds, was one of the patients who died after being heavily medicated by Knox. Defense attorneys Tony Anderson and John Lichtenstein left the courthouse asserting that the not-guilty verdicts were a vindication of Knox and his treatment methods. During the trial, they portrayed him as a compassionate and caring doctor who, though unorthodox in his sandals and long hair, dealt with patients in such severe pain that other doctors wouldn't treat them. Anderson said he couldn't say much about the verdicts until he examines more closely which of the many charges against Knox could be retried. He said he's still not sure of which charges Knox has been exonerated. "I was trying to write them down" as the court clerk read off the verdicts, he said, "but I was emotional." Knox had been charged with 50 drug-related charges, as well as 19 fraud, racketeering and conspiracy charges related to his billing practices. His office manager, Beverly Gale Boone, faced the same charges. The jury found her not guilty of more than 60 charges and was unable to reach a verdict on the remaining charges. A third defendant, Willard Newbill James Jr., a professional counselor accused of paying kickbacks to Knox in exchange for patient referrals, had faced five fraud-related charges. Jurors were unable to reach a verdict on any of those charges. A federal grand jury indicted Knox in October 2002. Judge Wilson temporarily postponed the trial in December, as Knox underwent treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Yesterday, surrounded by his wife and children, Knox said he hopes to reopen his medical practice, but has other business to attend to first. "The first thing is to get my health back," he said, "and spend more time with my family." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake