(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine praised today’s vote by the Ohio State Medical Board to permanently revoke the medical license of James E. Lundeen Sr. The board’s vote follows the recommendation of a hearing examiner who found last month that Lundeen was overprescribing medication to patients at his offices in Portsmouth and Plymouth. The Attorney General's Office has been involved in the investigation and represented the Ohio State Medical Board at the license hearing.
“The medical board did the right thing today,” said Attorney General DeWine. “Pill mills and overprescribing medications are killing Ohioans and hurting families. Putting a stop to these is a priority.”
Investigators from the Attorney General's Office, Bureau of Workers Compensation, the State Highway Patrol, and other agencies raided Lundeen's offices in downtown Portsmouth and Plymouth last March. The State Medical Board suspended Lundeen's medical license in May, based on the finding that Lundeen's continued practice presented a danger to the public.
In August, the State Medical Board began an administrative hearing in this matter before a hearing examiner. During this hearing, the Attorney General's Office presented evidence regarding 26 patients to demonstrate that Lundeen's practice of medicine fell below the minimal standards expected of care. Two of Lundeen's patients testified at the hearing, explaining that Lundeen did not perform even cursory physical evaluations at appointments when he would prescribe ever-increasing amounts of narcotics to them. These patients testified that, as a result of Lundeen's overprescribing, they became increasingly addicted to their prescriptions.
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