He has never been charged locally for fraudulently prescribing medications. His medical license is in good standing, according to the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana.

“They think everyone who takes pain medicine are drug users,” Foley said. “And the doctors who write the prescriptions are drug pushers.

“Doctors are afraid to do it.”

In 1994, he said, investigators subpoenaed records for prescriptions he had issued for the previous three years. Nothing was uncovered, he said, but authorities have pressured him to retire in the past.

“They’ve had five or six grand juries, and they never found anything,” Foley said.

The family of one of his former patients sued him in 2006, saying her death was related to the over-prescribing of medication. Taine Watkins, Brandon Couch and Julie Couch sued Foley after their mother, Deborah Maxwell, died in June 2006. They claimed he was negligent by prescribing “highly addictive drugs” over a period of 20 years.

Maxwell, a lifelong Anderson resident, died in Bedford, Ind., after a sudden illness, according to her obituary. The lawsuit claimed Foley was negligent in not addressing Maxwell’s “symptoms of drug abuse and addiction,” among other issues.

Foley denied any wrongdoing, saying Maxwell was under another doctor’s care in the month preceding her death.

“It wasn’t really related to me,” he said. “They were just money grabbers. They just wanted to make some money. I didn’t do anything wrong to that girl.”

Maxwell’s children could not be reached for comment. The family’s then-attorney, Mary Findling of Indianapolis, maintained the allegations in the complaint. Findling said she is no longer a member of same law firm where she worked when the lawsuit was filed, and could not comment.

“Good,” Findling said of the possible DEA investigation into Foley. “That’s my comment.”

The Maxwell case was settled before going to trial. Findling declined to disclose the terms. Foley said his insurance company settled the case for $75,000. An Indiana Department of Insurance medical review panel found that Foley’s record keeping was “inadequate,” but determined it was not a factor in Maxwell’s death.

Foley, who said he plans to retire in about a year, maintains he is being persecuted by the government.

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” he said. “I try to stay within the guidelines. I’m not doing anything wrong, and I’ll not let the government say I’m doing anything wrong.”