Series: Part 3 Of 3: Dr. Talley Pro And Con, A Special Report

PATIENT OF ALMOST SIX YEARS: 'I HATE TO SEE THIS HAPPEN'

PRO

SHELBY - Angela Ramsey believes she would not be alive today without the
help she got from Dr. Joseph Talley.

Ms. Ramsey, 24, has been a patient of Dr. Talley's for 51/2 years. She
continues to see him even though he cannot prescribe Xanax, one drug she
says she still needs to take. She is seeing another doctor recommended by
Talley to get Xanax prescribed, she said.

She found Dr. Talley after several years of depression and a suicide
attempt. Ms. Ramsey said she had problems in school and saw a therapist
before finding Dr. Talley. She was already taking Xanax when she went to
Dr. Talley, she said.

"I could open up to Talley," Ms. Ramsey said. "On my first visit he talked
to me about 41/2 hours. He told me I had bipolar disorder."

Dr. Talley prescribed a medication for the bipolar disorder and also gave
her Xanax.

Ms. Ramsey said she was never given the high-powered narcotics Dr. Talley
gave patients for chronic pain.

"When I first went to see him, I did not think he could help me," Ms.
Ramsey said. "He gets to know you. He makes sure you know exactly what you
are taking."

Ms. Ramsey said she would not be able to work and live on her own without
the medicine he prescribed for her.

"The medicine keeps me balanced," she said. "A doctor is a big thing in
some people's lives, especially if you have a mental disorder."

Ms. Ramsey said she doesn't understand why all of Dr. Talley's patients
have to suffer for what other patients did.

"You aren't supposed to take other people's medicine or sell your
medication," she said. "I hate to see this happen to Talley. I don't know
all the stories of the patients who died, but they probably took the
medication the wrong way."

Ms. Ramsey said it is the fault of the patient if he or she does not follow
Talley's instructions.

"I stopped taking my Xanax once when he told me not to stop taking it," she
said. "I had a seizure. I did not quit taking it again."

Ms. Ramsey said that Dr. Talley has never "not been there for her."

"I know him. He is not a bad person," she said. "His whole life is about
being a doctor. When I was on medical leave from work once and could not
buy Christmas presents for my son, Talley made him a wooden train. He has
also helped me buy my medication when I had no money."

Ms. Ramsey said she has sat in Dr. Talley's waiting room for as long as six
hours, waiting to see him.

"People are trying to make him out to be a joke," she said. "Talley is
seeing now who was using him. The people who were real patients are still
seeing him. The ones who just wanted pain pills are not coming back.

"This is such a shame," she said. "I think he was about ready to retire."

End of 10-year marriage is doctor's doing, says husband

CON

DENVER, N.C. - Colin Swaim blames Dr. Joseph Talley for the breakup of his
10-year marriage.

Swaim says that his wife, Barbara, started seeing Dr. Talley in November
2000 and became "hooked" on the drugs he prescribed for her.

"Her personality changed with the pills," Swaim said. "She was not married
to me, she was married to the pills."

The Swaims separated in July 2001. Barbara Swaim moved to Florida.

Swaim said that on his wife's first visit to Dr. Talley, she came home with
four prescriptions for "high-powered narcotics." Swaim said the drugs
included morphine and Roxicet, a form of Oxycodone.

Barbara Swaim's side of the story is different. "Dr. Talley saved my life,"
she said.

When she started seeing Dr. Talley for migraines and fibromyalgia, she had
already been seeing a neurologist for 12 years but with little success, she
said.

"The medication Dr. Talley gave me helped me function," Mrs. Swaim said.
"What Dr. Talley did for me did not have anything to do with my marriage
breaking up. My husband is using Dr. Talley as a scapegoat."

In December 2000, Barbara was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast
cancer. She had surgery within days of the diagnosis.

"She went back to Dr. Talley to get pain medication to take after the
surgery," Swaim said. "He did not have anything to do with the cancer
surgery. I had never heard of such a thing, getting pain medication from a
doctor other than the one doing the surgery."

Barbara Swaim said Dr. Talley "kept in touch" with her other doctors.

"All my doctors knew what I was taking," she said.

Mrs. Swaim said that her husband is just "on a crusade" against Dr. Talley.

Swaim said that his wife's doctors told him that once she got through the
cancer surgery that she would have to "deal with drug addiction."

"She went back to Dr. Talley several times after the cancer surgery," he
said. "She was even getting prescriptions for narcotics through the mail
from MediFare."

MediFare is the drugstore located in a trailer behind Dr. Talley's office
in Grover.

"I tried to get her help," Swaim said. "She let the pills get the best of
her. I attribute a lot of this to Dr. Talley and the way he prescribed
narcotics."

Swaim said that when his wife started taking the pills she "did not sleep
or eat a lot."

"I think she slept all day while I was at work," he said. "She abused the
pills."

Barbara Swaim has survived the cancer but said she is still in pain.

She is out of the pills she got from Dr. Talley during her last visit to
him in December.

"I am suffering through the pain right now," she said. "I have an
appointment to see a pain management doctor here in Florida next week. I
have had seven operations since the first breast cancer surgery. With all
the scar tissue, now the pain is even worse."