Ohio suspends pain doctor's license

COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio’s State Medical Board has suspended the license of a doctor it says prescribed pain pills “excessively and inappropriately.”

The board says Dr. James E. Lundeen Sr. wrote prescriptions for some patients who showed signs of addiction and that he often increased dosages of narcotics without cause.

The suspension announced Wednesday took effect immediately.

In its statement the board called Lundeen’s operations “atypical” of a standard medical practice, noting he regularly treated about 90 people per day in Portsmouth in southern Ohio, at one of his dozen or so offices across the state.

Reacting to his suspension, Lundeen told The Columbus Dispatch in an email that he had a “spotless” record and had done nothing wrong.

A spokesman says Gov. John Kasich is “happy” with the medical board’s action.