Dr. Pietr Hitzig -- who has built a worldwide patient list through his "Fen-Phen Crisis Center" Web page -- was not charged with any crime. Authorities said they are examining Hitzig's records to determine how his business worked and how he prescribed diet drugs to patients, some of whom he never met.

Hitzig, angry over what he called a "grandstand play" by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents, said last night that he did not think he violated any law by prescribing drugs to "desperate patients suffering excruciating pain."

"These are not addictive medications. In my conscience, I have no problems at all," said Hitzig, who ardently defends the diet drugs -- even though they were banned two weeks ago by the federal Food and Drug Administration on the basis of studies linking them to heart damage.