WEST VIRGINIA RECORD

BECKLEY — A Raleigh County man has sued a hospital and staff for alleged malpractice in inpatient procedures.

Earl Douglas Johnson of Sophia filed a lawsuit Feb. 26 in Raleigh Circuit Court against Dr. Donald Kenneth Glaser, Raleigh General Hospital in Beckley; LifePoint Hospitals Inc., LifePoint WV Holdings Inc., and Veronica Ronni Pettiford, alleging malpractice.

According to the complaint, LifePoint Hospitals acquired Raleigh General on July 1, 2006, and the defendants hired Glaser in 2009 to direct its new cardiac program. The suit states the number of procedures increased almost 500 percent in Glaser’s first year and the defendants profited financially.

According to the complaint, the defendants knew Glaser was performing a disproportionately high number of catheterizations, balloon angioplasties and stent procedures that were not medically necessary. The suit contends patient safety was jeopardized and no actions were taken until Glaser had left the facility to practice elsewhere. Patients were then made aware that they may have been treated unnecessarily, the suit states.

On Sept. 23, 2011, Earl Douglas Johnson, 84, was admitted to Raleigh General with back, chest and shoulder pain, the suit states, and after consultation with Glaser he consented to catheterization and was also given a stent insertion. The following day, Glaser repeated the procedure, gained the patient’s consent by waking him at midnight to sign documents, and duplicated the procedure on Sept. 28, inserting two additional stents, the suit states.

The lawsuit maintains Johnson was put at unnecessary risk, incurred unnecessary expenses and must take medication for the rest of his life. The suit cites wrongful hiring and retention, willful misrepresentation for financial gain, patient negligence and failure to take remedial administrative action.

Johnson seeks compensatory damages for medical expenses, pain, suffering and distress, attorney fees and costs. He is represented by attorneys Ben Salango and Brett Preston of Preston & Salango in Charleston.

Raleigh Circuit Court case number: 15-C-143-K