Lindsay Lohan has left the building. Quietly, through the back door. What nerve.A source tells E! News that LiLo was discharged from UCLA Medical Center on Tuesday, roughly 23 days into what was originally going to be a 90-day stint in the hospital's neuropsychiatric treatment facility.
Sound familiar?
Then again, there's been so much back-and-forth about Lindsay's early release, it almost seems as if this is a long time coming. The actress' camp, headed up by manager Lou Taylor, has been working overtime for the past two weeks to spring LiLo from the facility.Dina Lohan tells E! News that they will be issuing a formal statement in the morning.
L.A. Superior Court Judge Elden Fox apparently signed off on the move today, despite saying earlier that he wasn't going to issue a ruling until Wednesday morning, when all parties are due in court for a hearing.
Lohan reportedly inked her discharge papers this morning, perhaps part of an overall plan to sneak out, relatively speaking, of UCLA without attracting the sort of media frenzy that greeted her upon her early (yet super anticipated) release from jail.Speculation had been mounting almost as soon as she entered treatment that the rehabbing actress would get sprung early after Judge Marsha Revel recused herself from the case, paving the way for a new judge to lay down what was expected to be an eased-up, much more lax version of the law.
Lohan was reportedly due to complete two back-to-back, 45-day programs at UCLA, which only admits patients who suffer from a "dual diagnosis"—meaning those receiving treatment must suffer from both a mental disorder and a substance abuse problem.But then word leaked out that her mental state wasn't nearly as precarious as first thought, which would theoretically negate the need for such intensive treatment. If Lindsay's mental health was indeed misdiagnosed, there was no need for her to remain at UCLA 24-7.
Instead, Fox will most likely order Lohan to continue outpatient treatment at UCLA.
A hospital spokeswoman would not comment, citing patient confidentiality.
In any case, the early discharge is no doubt music to Dina Lohan's ears, as the responsibility-eschewing mother last week took every opportunity to tell the American public that she believed her daughter did not belong in rehab. Not so Michael Lohan, who said that Lindsay not only belonged there, but that Dina should join her, as well.
In any case, Lohan's discharge was preceded by some strenuous behind-the-scenes machinations, as her release required new evaluations and Fox's signature on the probation modification.
—Additional reporting by Marc Malkin
(Originally published Aug. 24, 2010, at 6:45 p.m. ET)
