MIDDLETOWN, Ind. -- Hundreds of former patients of a Henry County doctor whose license was suspended by the state have been left in limbo.

Dr. Phillip D. Foley, of Middletown, had his license suspended on Thursday after accusations by the state that he overprescribed narcotics to patients, contributing to nine fatal drug overdoses over 10 years, Call 6's Rafael Sanchez reported.

A staff member at Foley's office on Friday told Sanchez that employees were working to develop a procedure to handle the transferring of medical records.

But some patients, who said they need their records right away, have been left to wait until that process in complete.

"They don't know what's going on with our charts. For my medical reasons, I need to get into another doctor's office. So we need help, and we need answers," said Florence Oakes, a patient of Foley's for 10 years.

When records are able to be transferred from Foley's office, patients may also have to pay to gain access to their charts and X-rays.

It is legal for a previous doctor to charge a new doctor a fee for transferring the records, a cost that can be passed on to patients. State guidelines stipulate that doctor's offices cannot charge more than $1 for the first 10 page, 75 cents for 11 through 50 and 25 cents for more than 51 pages.

The cost of obtaining copies of X-rays is more expensive, varying on the cost of the actual X-ray.

State regulators said they don't expect any problems the handling of medical records by Foley's office.

Foley said he was planning to retire in July 2010 before the allegations surfaced and said he offered to surrender his license, but the state denied that request. It's unclear if he will fight the accusations when the state holds a formal hearing on the matter.