Doctor honored by Legislature registered as sex offender
03:46 PM CDT on Friday, June 22, 2007
Associated Press
AUSTIN – A Fort Worth doctor twice honored by the Texas House of Representatives as the "doctor of the day" is a registered sex offender convicted of an illicit relationship with a 17-year-old.
Dr. Nilon Tallant, 75, was introduced by lawmakers at the Capitol in 2006 and again in January of this year's legislative session, even though one legislator said he warned others about the physician's past sex offense after his first appearance.
"I don't think anybody that's a convicted sex offender should have a medical license in Texas. Period," said Republican Rep. Phil King of Weatherford, who introduced Tallant in the House chamber in April 2006.
Tallant now lives in King's district, but King said he doesn't know Tallant well.
Dallas-Fort Worth television station KTVT first reported on the doctor's background.
Lolly Lockhart, a nurse consultant who has worked with Tallant, told The Associated Press on his behalf Friday that Tallant "is a very fine upstanding physician and citizen."
She said the criminal charge resulted from his mistake in judgment and involved the relative of a woman he once dated. The young woman allegedly tried several times to seduce the doctor when he was divorced and lonely, Lockhart said.
"He's not a predator at all," she said.
Tallant is now remarried. He practices medicine part time on a fill-in basis and enjoys volunteer work, including the Capitol duty, Lockhart said.
King said he found out "through the grapevine" after Tallant's first appearance in the House that the doctor was a sex offender. He said he passed that information on to the House speaker's office and the medical association that screens doctors for the duty.
Tallant used to practice medicine in the San Marcos area, where the conviction occurred.
Texas Medical Board records state that in late 1995 Tallant began "an improper sexual relationship" with a 17-year-old female patient for whom he had once prescribed medication and he pleaded guilty in 1997 to sexual performance by a child. He was placed on probation for 10 years and fined $1,000, according to board records.
His medical license was revoked but reinstated in 2001, records show.
The Texas Academy of Family Physicians screens doctors for the volunteer doctor of the day program. The physicians are available at the Capitol to assist legislators, their staff members and the public with medical needs.
Academy spokesman Tom Banning says the doctor of the day averages 30 to 35 patient visits at the Capitol.
The academy issued a statement Friday saying it regrets that Tallant was selected as a participating doctor and that its executive director cannot recall a similar situation involving the program.
"Like our patients, we rely on information at the medical board to help determine eligibility of physicians to participate in the Physician of the Day program. Unfortunately it is now clear there are holes in the information provided on the Texas Medical Board Web site," the statement said.
Tallant was again doctor of the day this year and was introduced by Rep. Leo Berman, a Tyler Republican, because King wasn't available, Berman said.
"I introduced the doctor – never seen him before in my life," Berman recalled. "The speaker yelled down, 'Leo, could you introduce the doctor of the day so we can get started?' "
Berman said it's "horrendous" that Tallant was allowed to be the doctor for the day and that he believes there should be tougher screening of the doctors and of clergy members who appear to present the prayer each day at the Legislature.
Because of the incident, the family physicians academy said, it will strengthen its screening of the volunteer doctors.
The consumer group Texas Watch said this shows how difficult it can be for patients to obtain accurate online information about doctors. Texas Watch wants the Legislature to enact more accountability measures, including reinstating the Office of Patient Protection, said the group's executive director, Alex Winslow.
Tallant is required to register as a sex offender each year for the rest of his life with local law enforcement authorities, said Tela Mange, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, which displays a sex offender registry online.
King, a former police officer and now an attorney, said the doctor of the day program has an important function at the Capitol, where a staff nurse is also on duty.
Most legislators are in from out of town, don't have a regular doctor in Austin and don't have much time to find one if they get sick, King said. He said a designated daily doctor once helped him with a sinus infection.
"Everybody gets sick during the Legislature," King said.
And you want to re elect this idiot?
