
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 7, 1994                   TAG: 9407070120
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By LAURA WILLIAMSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

INDICTED DOCTOR COULD LOSE LICENSE

The director of Roanoke's Northwest Medical Center, under indictment on charges he illegally obtained drugs for himself, will automatically lose his right to practice medicine in Virginia if he is convicted.

Dr. Kenneth LeGree Hallman was indicted Tuesday on 16 counts of illegally prescribing drugs during his first two years at the medical center. LeGree took over the McDowell Avenue center amid great fanfare in 1992, when he was awarded a key to the city for his efforts to provide health care to a medically underserved area.

Under a state law that took effect last summer, the Virginia Department of Health Professions must suspend indefinitely the license of any physician convicted of a felony. That suspension comes immediately upon notice of the conviction and without a hearing, said Wayne Farrar, a spokesman for the department.

However, the doctor may immediately appeal the suspension and must be granted a hearing at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Medicine, as long as that meeting occurs at least 30 days after the doctor's request has been received, Farrar said.

The full board meets three times each year. A three-fourths vote of the members is required to reinstate a physician's license, Farrar said.

Hallman, who continues to serve as director of the medical center, has been accused of prescribing Valium for his housekeeper in exchange for housework and sexual favors. A search warrant filed in Roanoke Circuit Court also alleges that he prescribed tranquilizers for his housekeeper that he used for himself.

Hallman did not return telephone calls Wednesday. His attorney said Tuesday that he expected Hallman to be "morally and legally vindicated" and that evidence would later show a more complete picture of what happened.

If convicted, in addition to losing his medical license, Hallman faces a maximum punishment of five years in prison on each charge.

Farrar could not comment on the case, however, because no action has been taken against Hallman by the board and no date has been set for a hearing. He could not even confirm that the Department of Health Professions, parent agency of the Board of Medicine, was investigating Hallman, even though the search warrant indicates the agency has been working with Virginia State Police on the case since May 1993.

by CNB