SUPPORTER RALLIES FOR DR. TALLEY

SHELBY - Dr. Joseph Talley helped Susan Whitmire manage her migraine pain,
and now her husband, Jaye, wants to return the favor.

Whitmire, who lives in Conover, is launching a campaign to drum up support
for Talley and raise money for his defense.

Talley now faces at least three legal actions - a hearing before the N.C.
Medical Board, a Drug Enforcement Administration show cause order the U.S.
Attorney is currently reviewing and a negligence lawsuit for the death of
former patient David Barry Bailey.

Bailey, 35, died Aug. 16, 2000. According to the autopsy report, he died
with Oxycodone and Oxymorphone in his system. The autopsy showed he also
had moderate atherosclerosis of the left anterior descending coronary artery.

Sheila McGill Bailey filed the negligence lawsuit Friday in Rutherford
County court. The lawsuit claims Talley failed to exercise reasonable care
and diligence and prescribed excessive amounts of opiates against Bailey's
wishes and the better judgment of family members.

Mrs. Bailey is seeking "unspecified damages."

Talley would not comment on the lawsuit Tuesday.

Whitmire said he could see both sides of the controversy surrounding
Talley, but he and his wife felt "fortunate" to find him.

An ad for the Talley Legal Defense Fund will run in The Star for the next
month and a Talley Website will be up by Friday, Whitmire said. It will
cost Whitmire approximately $2,000 to run the ad for a month in The Star.
Similar ads will run in The Charlotte Observer and The Raleigh News &
Observer, Whitmire said.

Whitmire also has contributed the first $5,000 to the Talley defense fund.

"I want him to get his fair day in court," Whitmire said. "Dr. Talley was
doing what he thought was right. He is a well-respected doctor.

"He was not doing it for the money. He is just a poor country doctor,"
Whitmire said. "He does not know how to defend himself. He is a doctor, not
a lawyer."

Talley will face the N.C. Medical Board in March to answer charges that he
over-prescribed narcotics, along with other allegations.

The Grover family physician and self-styled pain specialist had his license
to prescribe narcotics suspended by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency in
late January. The DEA also stated in its show cause order that Talley's
practices may have contributed to the deaths of 23 of his patients.

"Yes, I am worried sick about legal fees," Talley said. "I do not have the
funds needed to mount a legal defense against the DEA. Mr. Whitmire has
given me a tremendous boost."

"He is a compassionate man," Whitmire said. "Dr. Talley has bent over
backwards for his patients. I think there should be an uprising against the
DEA.

"They are just trying to intimidate everybody."