N.C. DOCTOR'S PATIENTS TURNING TO UPSTATE PHYSICIANS

Area Doctors Say They've Been Flooded With Calls From Former Patients Of
Joseph Talley Since January, When The Grover, N.C., Doctor Lost His Federal
License To Prescribe Controlled Substances After 23 Of His Patients Died In
Part From Drug Overdoses

Dr. Melissa Weatherspoon has seen a lot of new patients this year.

Weatherspoon, the only doctor in the small town of Blacksburg, said she's
had a steady flow of Dr. Joseph Talley's former patients since mid-January
- - an average of 10 a day.

"Since they've been coming, I've just had a lot of deviant behaviors," she
said.

Weatherspoon and other Upstate doctors say they've been flooded with calls
from former Talley patients since January, when the Grover, N.C., physician
lost his federal license to prescribe controlled substances after 23 of his
patients died in part from drug overdoses. He is currently under
investigation by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

The N.C. Medical Board determined in March that Talley did not properly
examine or monitor some of his patients in order to detect drug abuse. The
board also determined that Talley did not check to see whether patients
with a history of drug abuse were obtaining drugs from other sources.

On Thursday, the board handed the Cleveland County doctor an indefinite
suspension for no less than 12 months. Talley may reapply for a license
after 12 months.

Talley said about 1,500 of his patients were pain patients, and he's had a
tough time referring them to new doctors.

"I'm not able to get very many patients into pain control centers at all,"
he said.

Weatherspoon said she's alert to the possibility of narcotics misuse, and
if a patient appears to need specialized pain relief she will refer them to
another doctor.

But she says it can be hard to separate the legitimate pain patient from
the drug seeker.

"Some of them really need it (pain medicine), but it's hard to pick them
out," Weatherspoon said.

She said she's found it difficult to find pain specialists to whom she can
refer Talley's former patients.

"I really feel for them, especially the ones that really need the pain
medicines," she said.

Dr. Eugene Mironer, medical director of the Carolinas Center for Advanced
Management of Pain, said his office on East Kennedy Street in Spartanburg
has been inundated with calls since Talley lost his DEA license.

"We see a humongous amount of referrals from other doctors who are seeing
Talley's former patients," Mironer said.

Ordinarily, Mironer said, his office agrees to initial consultations with
all patients who are referred by other doctors.

But Mironer said his practice is agreeing to see less than 10 percent of
Talley's former patients, primarily because of "inappropriate medication or
a lack of cause for the prescriptions we see."

"We know there were a large number of patients there that we would not like
to treat," Mironer said.

'We're not treating that bunch'

A former Talley pain patient who has tried to call doctors on her own said
Mironer's response is similar to others she's received.

The Lockhart woman asked that her name not be used for fear it would
further hinder her efforts to find a new doctor.

She said she's called four doctors so far, and each has refused to see her
once they found out she was a former Talley patient.

"Around here, we've been blackballed," she said. "They say, 'We're not
treating that bunch.' "

The woman, who said Talley treated her for knee pain, cluster headaches and
anxiety, had been taking the anti-anxiety drug Xanax plus the pain medicine
Lorcet Plus.

But her prescriptions from Talley ran out in March, and she said since she
can't find a new doctor she's had to do without the medicine.

"The anxiety is a whole lot worse; the pain is worse," she said.

The patient, who called the charges against Talley "bogus," said many
patients just like her have been left out in the cold.

"It's just such a shame, all those people out there that need their
medicine and they have no way of getting it."

Jaye Whitmire of Conover, N.C., who created a Web site in support of the
Grover doctor, said he has received more than 500 calls from Talley's
former patients.

Most callers are seeking help finding a new doctor, Whitmire said.

Whitmire said his wife received effective treatment from Talley for
migraines. After Talley lost his DEA license, Whitmire said, he and his
wife called a handful of doctors before they found one who would accept her
as a patient.

"Most of them in this area would not take any new pain patients, or if you
mentioned Talley's name, they would not take any of Talley's patients,"
Whitmire said.

Talley said he believes high doses of pain medicine are sometimes necessary
to adequately treat pain. Many doctors are unwilling to prescribe enough
pain medicine, he said.

"The right dose is whatever works, modifies the pain, but does not impair,"
Talley said.

"If we take it up carefully, almost any dose can be achieved."

Talley, who has been practicing since 1963, has said that he did not
knowingly prescribe medicine to drug abusers, but that he also never wanted
to withhold pain relief from a suffering patient.

"The far greater sin is denying the pain patient what they truly need
rather than giving the druggie a little fix," Talley said.