PLASTIC SURGEON'S LICENSE SUSPENDED FOR DRUG ABUSE

A state board on Friday suspended the medical license of Oklahoma City
plastic surgeon Dr. Lori Hansen for two months because of her addiction to
pain killers. Members of the Oklahoma State Board of Medical Licensure and
Supervision were not convinced that Hansen has diligently sought treatments
for both an abuse of the prescription drug hydrocodone and an alcohol problem.

Hansen, the wife of Oklahoma County District Attorney Wes Lane, was
scheduled to return Friday night from a three-day drug assessment program
at a Chicago hospital.

Merle Gile, Hansen's attorney, said Friday that his client has been clean
for at least 18 months.

Hansen will present her case to the licensure board at its next meeting on
March 14, Gile said.

With a suspended license, she is not allowed to practice medicine at least
until that March board meeting.

On Friday, Elizabeth A. Scott, an assistant attorney general assigned to
the medical licensure board, said Hansen hasn't been forthright in trying
to prove she's addressed her addictions.

"She can't give us any documentation to prove her sobriety. We have no
proof ... that the public is protected," said Scott, adding that for 11 of
the past 18 months, the board has no record that Hansen has tested negative
for drug use.

Board members said they were shocked that Hansen was given the drug Xanax
for anxiety when her drug problems were reported in the news media in November.

Doing that just compounded problems with any drug testing, board members said.

Attorney Gile, though, said that since summer 2000, Hansen has gone through
an outpatient drug treatment program at Mercy Health Center and she has
been seeing a marriage-and-family counselor and psychiatrist to help treat
her addictive tendencies.

"I truly believe she's never posed any type of danger to the public. She
has handled her problem," Gile said.

However, medical licensure board members were told that Hansen apparently
wasn't serious about drug-abuse treatment and she didn't seek an assessment
until the last minute under pressure from the board.

On Nov. 20, Hansen pleaded guilty to two felony drug charges and was given
a one-year deferred sentence.

On Nov. 5, Hansen, 47, publicly said she was addicted to painkillers from
January 1997 until June 2000.