COCAINE USE RELEVANT TO FORMER CELTIC LEWIS' MALPRACTICE CASE

Judge Rules Against Lewis's Widow

BOSTON, April 22 (UPI) - A judge has ruled that allegations the late
Boston Celtics star Reggie Lewis used cocaine is a ``relevant issue''
in his widow's malpractice suit against four doctors. Donna
Harris-Lewis had sought to prevent testimony about her husband's
possible use of cocaine at the upcoming trial against Dr. Gilbert
Mudge and three other doctors, saying the allegations were just an
attempt to trash her husband's good name. Suffolk Superior Court Judge
Thayer Fremont-Smith yesterday, however, rejected her motion and said
that if a person uses cocaine, ``it can cause structural damage to
the heart'' and ``does become relevant in my mind.'' Harris-Lewis
claims her husband did not use cocaine, and is suing the doctors,
alleging they failed to properly diagnose his heart disease. Lewis
died in 1993 while shooting baskets at Brandeis University.