CHICAGO DOC SUSPENDED FOR DRUG POSSESSION

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., May 20 (UPI) - A doctor from Chicago's South Side had his
medical license suspended after being arrested in rural Illinois for
possession of cocaine and cannabis.

The Illinois Department of Professional Regulation today imposed a
suspension against Dr. Charles Dickens, who works out of the Chicago Family
Health Center.

Dickens was arrested in March by police in rural Whiteside County.
Investigators later learned Dickens was involuntarily hospitalized for
cocaine detoxification, suicidal behavior and depression.

Dickens' physician and surgeon licenses were issued in 1996 under a 10-year
probationary period, due to a past history of treatment for substance abuse
and addiction.

Dickens was not available to comment on the suspension, but he will have a
hearing May 27 in Chicago to contest it.