ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 22, 1996 TAG: 9606240047
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA STAFF WRITER
A Christiansburg physician says he continued to practice medicine in order to pay his living expenses after his medical license was suspended in February.
State police arrested Dr. Daniel R. Holliman Thursday on 24 counts of practicing medicine with a suspended license and 24 counts of prescribing drugs while his license was suspended. Each charge is a felony punishable by a fine of up to $2,500 and a maximum of five years in prison. Holliman's bond was set at $30,000, which he posted the same day.
Official records from the state Board of Medicine detail a personal battle with drugs and alcohol over the past five years that caused Holliman's license to be suspended or revoked in three states.
Holliman said in a telephone interview Friday that he knew his license was suspended in Virginia effective Feb. 14, but he continued to work part time at two diet clinics in Salem and Christiansburg performing physicals and prescribing short-term appetite suppressants.
"Basically, I was trying to pay the rent and child support," Holliman said.
Holliman said his suspension came about because of "rather confusing" circumstances. There is an ongoing investigation involving other people that he could not comment about at this time, he added.
Doug Altizer, a state police special agent, made the arrest at Holliman's Christiansburg home with help from town police.
Altizer said the 48 counts are from a random sample of prescriptions Holliman wrote since his suspension in February.
According to records from the state Board of Medicine, Holliman's license to practice medicine was suspended in February based on a suspension in California. Previous to that, Virginia suspended Holliman's license in August 1994 because of a suspension in Wisconsin a month earlier.
The Virginia board reinstated Holliman's license in October 1994 with certain conditions, one of which was he had to get his license reinstated in Wisconsin. Records show that Holliman did so. But the Virginia board suspended his license again in February after it learned his license was revoked in California.
Records of orders by the Virginia disciplinary board include evidence submitted in all three states that indicates Holliman failed drug tests after being ordered to quit his use of alcohol and prescription drugs. In May 1995, Holliman was admitted to a Georgia inpatient program for substance abuse with a diagnosis of "alcoholism, drug addiction and substance induced mood disorder," a summary of evidence from the Virginia Board of Medicine states.
Kathy Hanley, co-owner of the Beverly Hills Weight Loss Clinic of Salem Inc., where Holliman worked two days a week, said she had no idea Holliman had problems with his license when she hired him in early February.
"When we hired him, all his records checked out; we were told he was in good standing with the medical board," she said. "We knew nothing of this."
Hanley said she found out Thursday that Holliman's license was suspended in February.
Sandy Sarkisian, owner of Advanced Diet Therapy in Christiansburg, where Holliman also worked part time, said she was surprised by Holliman's record. She opened her diet clinic in February and hired Holliman at that time.
"I was just shocked to find out his license was suspended," she said. "Numerous times I asked him if there were any restrictions on his license, and he lied to me."
Neither clinic owner had been able to reach Holliman since finding out about his suspended license.
Holliman said he had hoped to get his Virginia license reinstated in June, but he had to delay the hearing. The latest charges complicated the process, he conceded.
"It may take awhile," Holliman said, "but I will eventually get it straightened out."
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