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.