CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Dr. John A. King, the osteopathic surgeon who generated 124 medical malpractice lawsuits while on the staff of Putnam General Hospital between November 2002 and June 2003, filed a $50 million lawsuit against Morgantown lawyer Lance Rollo on Jan. 28.
Dr. John A. King, the osteopathic surgeon who generated 124 medical malpractice lawsuits while on the staff of Putnam General Hospital between November 2002 and June 2003, filed a $50 million lawsuit against Morgantown lawyer Lance Rollo on Jan. 28.
Representing himself, King sued Rollo in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia in Wheeling, asking for a jury trial.
King claims Rollo is guilty of "negligence/legal malpractice" and "breach of contract" in representing him in lawsuits against three other West Virginia law firms he hired previously.
In the new lawsuit, King reports his address at his mother's home in Birmingham, Ala.
King asks for $25 million in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages, claming Rollo failed to represent him properly in suits Rollo filed against lawyers from three Charleston law firms and the Hospital Corporation of America, which owned Putnam General while King was on its staff.
King sued lawyers from McQueen & Murphy, Giatris & Webb, and Steptoe & Johnson.
King has an extensive history of suing hospitals who terminated his privileges, medical boards who took away his licenses and lawyers he hired to represent him.
In his new lawsuit, King states Rollo, as well as lawyers from the three other law firms, "did not act in good faith for a competent court to rule" on his legal claims "after a full airing and maturity of the facts."
King alleges he was the victim of "an adverse peer review process with suspension of privileges on June 5, 2003," at Putnam General Hospital.
Putnam General partially suspended King's privileges after Dr. Edward G. Dawson, the late UCLA physician, completed an independent peer-review report that called King "a snake-oil salesman" and a "criminal."
King left West Virginia shortly after Putnam General restricted his privileges.
In his new lawsuit, King alleges Charleston lawyers Robert Coleman, with Steptoe & Johnson, and Jim McQueen failed to defend him properly during a July 2, 2003, peer-review hearing at Putnam General.
King claims Putnam General made "no finding of imminent danger to the health of any individual and the suspension of spinal clinical privileges was not substantiated."
But after King left Putnam General, 124 medical malpractice suits were filed against him, Putnam General and HCA. Many of those suits alleged King's surgeries caused permanent physical damage.
Last year, HCA and Putnam General settled those lawsuits against them for about $100 million.
Dr. John A. King, the osteopathic surgeon who generated 124 medical malpractice lawsuits while on the staff of Putnam General Hospital between November 2002 and June 2003, filed a $50 million lawsuit against Morgantown lawyer Lance Rollo on Jan. 28.
Representing himself, King sued Rollo in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia in Wheeling, asking for a jury trial.
King claims Rollo is guilty of "negligence/legal malpractice" and "breach of contract" in representing him in lawsuits against three other West Virginia law firms he hired previously.
In the new lawsuit, King reports his address at his mother's home in Birmingham, Ala.
King asks for $25 million in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages, claming Rollo failed to represent him properly in suits Rollo filed against lawyers from three Charleston law firms and the Hospital Corporation of America, which owned Putnam General while King was on its staff.
King sued lawyers from McQueen & Murphy, Giatris & Webb, and Steptoe & Johnson.
King has an extensive history of suing hospitals who terminated his privileges, medical boards who took away his licenses and lawyers he hired to represent him.
In his new lawsuit, King states Rollo, as well as lawyers from the three other law firms, "did not act in good faith for a competent court to rule" on his legal claims "after a full airing and maturity of the facts."
King alleges he was the victim of "an adverse peer review process with suspension of privileges on June 5, 2003," at Putnam General Hospital.
Putnam General partially suspended King's privileges after Dr. Edward G. Dawson, the late UCLA physician, completed an independent peer-review report that called King "a snake-oil salesman" and a "criminal."
King left West Virginia shortly after Putnam General restricted his privileges.
In his new lawsuit, King alleges Charleston lawyers Robert Coleman, with Steptoe & Johnson, and Jim McQueen failed to defend him properly during a July 2, 2003, peer-review hearing at Putnam General.
King claims Putnam General made "no finding of imminent danger to the health of any individual and the suspension of spinal clinical privileges was not substantiated."
But after King left Putnam General, 124 medical malpractice suits were filed against him, Putnam General and HCA. Many of those suits alleged King's surgeries caused permanent physical damage.
Last year, HCA and Putnam General settled those lawsuits against them for about $100 million.
King hired Giatris & Webb, paying them a retainer of $18,000 in July and August 2003, after he became unhappy with representation he received from Coleman and McQueen to expose the "illegal peer review process" Putnam General conducted.
Giatris & Webb, King claimed, also failed to file appropriate legal actions against Putnam General and HCA to protect his reputation.
The new lawsuit claims Rollo "breached said duty by his acts and/or omissions to exercise that level of reasonable care, skill, diligence" needed to recover damages.
King's new suit also claims the failure of all these lawyers forced him to declare bankruptcy in November 2007, now before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Birmingham.
Bankruptcy court officials recently abandoned the possibility that King will collect any damages from the lawsuits he filed against his former lawyers.
Representing himself, King filed another lawsuit in August seeking $72.5 million in damages against Putnam General and HCA in U.S. District Court in Nashville, Tenn., where HCA is based.
In legal papers, King alleged Putnam General fraudulently billed federal agencies such as Medicaid.
King's legal filings also alleged Putnam General paid bonuses to surgeons for processing patients quickly and claimed he lost surgery privileges in retaliation for not investing in a physician's business.
In the Nashville lawsuit, King listed his mailing address as 11310 South Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando, Fla. - at a building including numerous businesses, including a firefighters association, a UPS store and various companies selling real estate, computers, electronic equipment, hardwood flooring and limousine services.
On Dec. 3, the federal court in Nashville entered an order dismissing King's suit against HCA.
Since 1998, King sued three other hospitals that had dismissed him: Hillcrest Health Center in Oklahoma City, Okla.; Jackson County Hospital Corp. in Marianna, Fla.; and Donalsonville Hospital in Donalsonville, Ga.
Federal judges dismissed all four suits.
Charleston Area Medical Center bought Putnam General in September 2006 and operates the facility as CAMC Teays Valley Hospital.
Reach Paul J. Nyden at pjny...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5164.
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