DRUG OUTLETS KNEW DOCTOR'S RECORD

He was known among pharmacists as a "Dr. Feelgood."

Erie physician David A. Klees, D.O., had a reputation for prescribing lots
of pain medication, including the highly addictive OxyContin.

The reputation eventually caught up to him.

Suspicious pharmacists telephoned drug agents to alert them of Klees'
prescription habits, and the tips helped lead to Klees' arrest this week on
a count of involuntary manslaughter and 12 other charges that he wrote
illegal prescriptions.

The arrest highlights the dangers of OxyContin and other painkillers,
officials said. They said the case illustrates on a local level how the
abuse of prescription painkillers has come to rival the abuse of illegal
street drugs such as crack cocaine and marijuana.

The Klees case also points to the importance of pharmacists in fighting the
abuse of prescription drugs. Those who dispense the drugs often find
themselves policing the physicians who write the prescriptions and the
patients who take the drugs.

Klees "was definitely known as someone you could go to - like a 'Dr.
Feelgood,' " said one local pharmacist who said he provided information to
investigators about Klees.

"He is not the first one out there, and he probably won't be the last. When
something like this happens, the pens dry up for a time, so it is good for
that."

The pharmacist asked not to be identified so as not to draw attention to
his pharmacy. He said some patients addicted to OxyContin fail to recognize
the scope of their problem because they are getting the source of their
addiction under a doctor's orders.

"If it is given as a prescription. Some people don't think it is abuse at
all," the pharmacist said.

Pat Kennedy agrees. Kennedy, the assistant Erie County district attorney
assigned to the county's Drug Court, said abuse of OxyContin and similar
painkillers frequently starts while the addict is under the care of a
physician.

Kennedy has been assigned to Drug Court for 14 months. She said about half
of the Drug Court defendants are addicted to OxyContin or other painkillers.

"It is 50-50," Kennedy said. "There is a lot of the drug of choice being
the prescription-type drugs - Hydrocodone, OxyContin, Vicodin. But there is
also the traditional use of marijuana, cocaine and alcohol."

Klees is accused of writing an illegal prescription that contributed to the
death of one patient, Sherry Lee Ziroli, who died of an accidental drug
overdose May 17. He is also accused of writing illegal prescriptions for 11
other patients.

Police said OxyContin is not a part of the involuntary-manslaughter count,
but it is involved in many of the other counts against Klees. Investigators
said they have no evidence Klees was using the drugs himself.

Investigators allege that Klees prescribed painkillers without first
ordering tests or suggesting alternatives to painkillers, and that he
continued to prescribe painkillers even when he knew the patients were
already addicted to them, according to court records.

Klees remains in the Erie County Prison, unable to make bond of $50,000
full cash. He has a bond-review hearing in Erie County Common Pleas Court
on Monday.

Erie police Capt. James Skindell, who helped investigate Klees, said the
46-year-old family practitioner was known among pharmacists for possible
problems with prescriptions. Klees' office was at 217 W. 11th St. until an
eviction notice forced him out in September.

Abuse of OxyContin "has turned into an epidemic, and we believe he was a
big portion of the problem," Skindell said.

Erie police Detectives James Stumpo and Barry Snyder also helped in the
investigation. They worked with state drug agents under the direction of
Dennis Tobin, the regional director of the state attorney general's Bureau
of Narcotics Investigation and Drug Control.

Tobin said he relies on daily phone calls from pharmacists to help track
prescription habits of physicians and patients.

"I get calls from pharmacists who are very concerned," Tobin said.
"Pharmacists and most doctors police themselves."

Local and state medical organizations put on programs to warn physicians of
the dangers of overwriting prescriptions, said Thomas Falasca, D.O.,
secretary and immediate past president of the Erie County Medical Society.
The society helps educate local physicians, but Klees is not a society
member, Falasca said. Physicians do not have to be members of the society
to practice in Erie County.

"Perhaps the people who most need some of this information don't avail
themselves of it," Falasca said.

One patient who experienced Klees' problems firsthand is Sheryl Jacobson.
The Erie resident told investigators that Klees prescribed OxyContin for
her and said he was decreasing her dosage, but that he actually increased
the dosage without telling her.

"Jacobson stated that she had originally been prescribed Hydrocodone, but
had been switched to OxyContin without a reported increase in pain,"
according to arrest records for Klees. "Jacobson said that Klees never
ordered an MRI for her until a year after she began receiving treatment."

Jacobson said Klees' arrest satisfied her. "I'm very pleased that he got
what he deserved," she said.