SISTER: SOME SAW DR. KNOX AS A 'SAVIOR'

Trial of Roanoke pain specialist postponed today because of weather

During the time her brother was a patient, Tammy Akers testified that
her mother and two sisters also became patients of Knox's. Tammy Akers
said she questioned both Knox and her family about why they needed pain
medication.

Tracy Akers died mad at his sister and loving Roanoke pain specialist Cecil
Byron Knox, Tammy Akers testified in federal court Wednesday.

Federal prosecutors have named Akers as one of eight people who died as a
result of what they argue was Knox's prescription of powerful painkillers
outside the scope of legitimate medical practice. Tracy Akers was 37 when he
died Feb. 22, 2002.

Tammy Akers was one of several family members who testified at the federal
trial of Knox and four of his associates Wednesday about the effects that
Knox's treatment had on their loved ones. In some cases, patients
experienced several overdoses before they finally died from one, according
to court testimony.

And in some cases, more than one family member was a patient of Knox's,
according to court testimony. And other relatives questioned why they were
also receiving prescriptions for powerful painkillers such as OxyContin and
methadone.

Tammy Akers testified that when Tracy Akers first became a patient of Dr.
Knox's, her family saw him as a godsend.

Tracy Akers had been paralyzed from the neck down after he was shot six
times in West Virginia in 1982. He and his sister, Tammy, later became
national spokespeople for victims of violent crimes.

But Tracy Akers lived in pain. He tried a variety of doctors, but until
Knox, none of them could do anything for him, Tammy Akers testified. Knox
prescribed for Tracy Akers OxyContin, methadone, Valium and other
medications.

In the beginning, Knox's regimen of care really helped Tracy Akers, his
sister testified. Knox would make house calls for Tracy Akers in Vinton, or
Akers would visit Knox at his office, sometimes with a gift of moonshine
hidden under his colostomy bag.

But in time, he had several episodes where he stopped breathing and almost
died from an overdose, Tammy Akers testified.

"I just knew this drug was doing something to my brother," Tammy Akers said
of OxyContin.

During the time her brother was a patient, Tammy Akers testified that her
mother and her two sisters also became patients of Knox's. Tammy Akers said
she questioned both Knox and her family about why they needed pain
medication.

Knox told her she was crazy, Tammy Akers testified. Her family rejected her.

"My family was totally against me," Tammy Akers said. "They looked at this
man as their savior."

Federal prosecutor Rusty Fitzgerald has called witnesses for the prosecution
to bolster the assertion that Knox's victims went beyond the eight people
Fitzgerald argues died as a result of Knox's prescriptions. But defense
attorneys have argued that there is no ceiling for the amount of opiates
that can be prescribed and that Knox cannot be held responsible when his
patients abuse the painkillers he has prescribed for them.

Relatives of the late Michael March, who lived in Bedford, also testified
Wednesday. His widow, Kristi, testified that her husband went to sleep Jan.
8, 2001, and never woke up. March, who had eight children, was 53 when he
died.

Roxanna Earhart, who lives in Speedwell, testified that her husband, Eben,
had two near-fatal overdoses in 1999. Scott Dove, a doctor who treated
Earhart after his first two overdoses, said that he left messages at Knox's
office with his concerns about Earhart's medications and also mailed a
medical report to Knox's office and gave Earhart a copy to give Knox. Dove
testified that Knox never returned his calls.

Roxanna Earhart testified that she hid her own OxyContin pills, because she
was afraid her husband would take them. Eben Earhart was taking more pills
than Knox prescribed, she said, and in the last month of his life became a
"zombie," she testified. Earhart, 50, eventually suffered a fatal overdose
Jan. 10, 2002.

Roxanna Earhart is no longer a patient of Knox's and treats her pain with
over - the - counter medication, she testified.

The trial, which is expected to last five more weeks, will not continue
today because of Hurricane Isabel. Chief U.S. District Judge Samuel Wilson
said he had not yet decided whether to continue the trial Friday.