Pubdate: Sat, 13 Dec 2003
Source: Times-Picayune, The (LA)
Copyright: 2003 The Times-Picayune
Contact:  http://www.nola.com/t-p/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/848
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/pain+management

MEDICAL BOARD REVOKES LICENSE OF N.O. DOCTOR

'Little More Than A Drug Salesman'

A New Orleans doctor has been forbidden to practice by a state board that 
found her guilty of prescribing narcotics without medical justification, 
and sometimes without seeing her patients.

The Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners had already suspended the 
license of Dr. Jacqueline Rena Cleggett-Lucas, a pain-management 
specialist, in February 2002. According to the board's report, she agreed 
last month to the revocation of her license, the harshest penalty the board 
can impose.

The board also fined her $5,000. If she wants to practice again, the agency 
said she must wait at least three years, undergo treatment for substance 
abuse, report to the board on her progress and pass the medical-licensing 
examination.

Cleggett-Lucas, who had practiced in eastern New Orleans, declined to 
comment but spoke through her attorney, Scott Yount.

Even though Cleggett-Lucas, 41, denied all the allegations, Yount said she 
agreed to the revocation because she could not afford to mount a legal battle.

"The findings of the board were based on no evidence but simply on the 
allegations of its complaints," Yount said.

In its eight-page report, the board said Cleggett-Lucas prescribed 
narcotics "in excessive amounts" to people who didn't need them, ignored 
signs that patients might be developing addictions to their medications, 
brushed off inquiries about her work and often did not see patients on 
follow-up visits.

"Considering all of the above, we are compelled to the conclusion that Dr. 
Cleggett practiced medicine in such a manner as to make her little more 
than a drug salesman," the board wrote.

Yount said her work met the standards of the American Academy of Pain 
Management.

"Dr. Cleggett believes the only thing she is guilty of is practicing in the 
field of pain management," Yount said. "It is clear that the board wants to 
run all pain-management specialists in Louisiana out of business."

Roselyn Koretzky, the board's attorney, declined to comment on Yount's 
allegation, saying, "The opinion speaks for itself on that matter."

The report also said Cleggett-Lucas has been a substance abuser, a claim 
Yount denied.

"Dr. Cleggett has not now, nor has she ever had, an alcohol or drug 
problem," he said.

Cleggett-Lucas has not practiced since her license was suspended. Yount 
declined to say what she is doing or where she is living.

The report was signed Nov. 13 and made public last week.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman