ANDERSON — A Middletown doctor is part of a federal investigation, and the physician says it has happened before and considers it borderline harassment.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency subpoenaed information from The Herald Bulletin on March 3, related to a story on Anderson resident and Middletown general practitioner Dr. Phillip Foley.

Reporter Justin Schneider wrote in February a feature story on Foley and his nearly 45 years practicing medicine. The story was part of “Takin’ it to the Street Beat,” a monthly radio program hosted by the newspaper and WHBU. The location for the broadcast changes each month. In February, the show was broadcast from Middletown Medical Clinic, where Foley practices.

Following the broadcast, Schneider’s story was placed on the newspaper’s Web site and several people posted comments online. The statements were removed, however, because the nature of the comments didn’t conform with the newspaper’s guidelines, according to Scott Underwood, The Herald Bulletin’s editor.

The DEA sent a subpoena to the newspaper in March, asking for copies of the comments, an explanation for their removal, the date and time they were sent and the e-mail address of the sender.

The newspaper refused the DEA’s request through its attorneys.

“We declined to provide the information,” Underwood said. “On principle and as a legal matter, journalists have a right to protect the identity of their sources. On a practical level, we couldn’t provide the information anyway. It had been automatically purged from our server by the time we received the subpoena.”

Drug Enforcement officials declined to comment about the investigation.

“We don’t confirm or deny an investigation into anyone,” said Special Agent Joanna DeSanto, spokeswoman for the DEA’s Chicago Field Division, which includes Indiana. Dennis Wichern, from the Indianapolis office of the DEA, echoed DeSanto’s comment.

For his part, Foley seemed nonplused when asked about the investigation. He said he has been regularly investigated by the DEA since the mid-1970s.

“They do that all the time,” Foley said Saturday. “Probably a couple of times per year.”

Foley, 72, acknowledged he probably writes more prescriptions for pain medications than other doctors. He said that is because he has more patients than many other physicians. He also said other doctors are reluctant to write prescriptions for those with severe pain problems, fearing they too will fall under suspicion. They are reluctant to tackle pain-management issues, he said.

Foley said he screens his patients. He said he ensures the prescriptions he writes for controlled substances are real by running tests, such as MRIs and CAT scans.

“I always make sure they have legitimate (problems),” he said. “Ordinary doctors are scared to write prescriptions.”

Foley said he’s been under grand jury investigation in the past, and no charges have ever been filed. According to Mary Bippus, public affairs officer at the U.S. Attorney’s office in Indianapolis, no federal charges have ever been filed against Foley.