BILOXI DOCTOR'S LICENSE RETURNED AFTER SUSPENSION IN DRUG CASE

BILOXI - A Biloxi doctor who pleaded guilty to illegal possession of
narcotics is back in practice and will have his record wiped clean if he
stays out of trouble for three years. The potential penalty for the crime
was two to eight years in prison.

The Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics spent 45 days in 2000 investigating
Adkins and allegations that he wrote prescriptions for the painkiller
Mepergan fortis, also known as meperidine, to men in exchange for sex. The
men were not his patients.

According to court records, the state Board of Medical Licensure reinstated
Dr. Jerry Adkins' license after a nine-month suspension when he agreed to
undergo treatment for a sexual disorder at a Kansas hospital and continue
treatment on an outpatient basis.

To get his license back, Adkins also had to agree to write prescriptions
only when another doctor signs off on them, and he must have someone else
present in the room when he examines patients. However, Adkins denied that
he ever had sex with a patient.

Medical records in the court file say that Adkins, a general surgeon,
suffers from paraphilia, a mental disorder characterized by sexual deviation.

Adkins' attorney, Joe Sam Owen of Gulfport, filed a request in Harrison
County Circuit Court on Thursday to seal the medical records enclosed in
Adkins' file.

The court has not yet acted on the request. Owen did not return a telephone
message Friday seeking his comment on the case.

In addition to the possession charge, the MBN also charged Adkins with
attempted transfer of a controlled substance. However, the state dropped
the transfer charge under the terms of the plea agreement.

Adkins faced the charge, the indictment says, because he intended to sell
meperidine to an undercover narcotics agent and attempted to "induce (an
undercover agent) to engage in homosexual acts in exchange for a
prescription for meperidine."

The agent, though, refused to engage in sexual acts and Adkins did not
write a prescription, the indictment said.

The Attorney General's Office agreed to put Adkins on probation, and to
eventually clear his record, said prosecutor Mark Ray, because the office
received several letters from members of the community who didn't want to
lose Adkins as a surgeon.

Ray said, "We were trying to do what's in the best interest of the community."

The Attorney General's Office prosecuted the case after District Attorney
Cono Caranna bowed out because he knows Adkins socially.