T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK Christopher Cole, owner of A Cut Above salon in Martins Ferry, reacts to news of a raid and drug-related charges against Dr. Troy Balgo, the Belmont County coroner who operates two pain management clinics in St. Clairsville.

MARTINS FERRY — Last week’s raid on 12 pain medication providers, including three local doctors, came as a surprise to some area patients.

Dr. Troy Balgo of St. Clairsville, Dr. Thomas Romano of Wheeling and Dr. Freeda Flynn of St. Clairsville are among those charged for their alleged roles in unlawfully distributing opioids and other controlled substances. Balgo also is the elected coroner of Belmont County.

Christopher Cole, owner of A Cut Above salon in Martins Ferry and a patient at Balgo’s Pain Management Clinic, talked to The Times Leader about his experiences as a patient and expectations for treatment in the future. He said he reacted with shock on hearing the news.

“I just don’t understand how this has happened to him,” Cole said, adding he believes Balgo to be innocent. He said Balgo’s operations raised no suspicions with him.

“My perspective with Dr. Balgo has been nothing but professional. He’s very strict, but I think that’s what you have to be, being able to prescribe those,” Cole said. “For the past at least five or six years I’ve gone to him, it has been regulated to the point where you can’t even be off by one (pill), and when they drug test you, they check everything to make sure you’re not doing anything you’re not supposed to. … If they find anything else in your system, he would cut you (off).”

Cole said he previously had been a patient of Douglas Trubiano, who was convicted of improprieties in writing prescriptions in 2014. Cole said he requires medication for pain management issues.

“I have a lot of issues with my lower back. MRIs show that I have bulging, herniated discs, degenerative discs, stenosis, arthritis, all in my lower back, and to be able to run a business in that amount of pain, you need to be under pain management,” he said. “It does affect me daily. So I ended up going to Dr. Balgo when Dr. Trubiano got in trouble.”

Cole said he was impressed on his first meeting with Balgo. Cole said he uses Vicodin and Lyrica, rather than more potent and potentially habit-forming drugs.

“With my situation, this was just to help me be able to function — just to help me run my business and take care of my many customers,” he said.

“Dr. Balgo has been above reproach to me. He has been straightforward. You do not go into his office without a drug test, pill count, and they will even randomly call you in. To me he’s been nothing but professional and did everything right,” Cole said. “He was very clear. You actually had to sign a contract saying if you deviate … he would cut you (off). He was very, very straightforward and no qualms about it. If you don’t follow what you’re supposed to follow, then he would not treat you.”

He related one instance about two months ago when he had forgotten to take one pill back in the bottle.

“They said, ‘You’re off by one.’ That was how strict they were,” Cole said. “They had a whole different person come in, recount them and make sure everything was to the letter.”

Cole said he still has appointments at the pain management office and is speaking with his family doctor to ensure he will still have access to medication. He said there is a lack of pain-treatment centers nearby, and pointed with concern to the closing of local hospitals including the closure of East Ohio Regional Hospital in Martins Ferry on Friday night.

“You know what’s going on in the hospitals in this valley. What’s going to happen if they close a bunch of pain management doctors who possibly haven’t done anything wrong?” he said. “What’s going to happen to the average person? Who are they going to turn to? You know how many people are going to turn to street drugs and how many might OD off that because it’s not restricted and it’s not managed? I would rather see people managed by a very strict doctor.”