CHARLESTON – Kanawha Circuit Judge James C. Stucky has granted an order permitting the state to intervene in a lawsuit against Greenbrier Emergency Services Inc. and a physician.
Stucky announced that an agreement had been reached to permit the State of West Virginia to intervene in the action for the limited purpose of addressing the constitutional challenges to state statutes raised in the case, according to the April 21 order.
A substantive response from the state to the plaintiff's motions for summary judgment will be due 60 days from the entry of the order.
The state filed its motion to intervene in February, stating that it had a fundamental interest in the case and should be granted intervention because the three pending motions for summary judgment seek declarations finding several state statutes void as unconstitutional.
A trial date is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 8, 2016, with a pre-trial conference scheduled for Feb. 2, 2016.
The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, as guardian and next friend of Samuel C. Walker, a minor, filed a lawsuit Aug. 12 in Kanawha Circuit Court against Greenbrier and Dr. Bruce Gorby, claiming the defendants violated the West Virginia Medical Professional Liability Act.
Walker, 11, was injured in a bicycle accident June 5, 2012, and taken to Braxton County Memorial Hospital, where he was seen by Gorby of Greenbrier Emergency Services and sent home, according to the suit.
Walker claims when the pain in his leg continued, he was taken back to the hospital June 8, 2012, where it was discovered he had a fracture of the left femoral neck and he was transferred to Ruby Memorial Hospital to undergo an open reduction internal fixation June 9, 2012.
Walker’s family states the doctor there informed them the delay in treatment had caused avascular necrosis, and the boy underwent two more surgeries as a result and can expect to undergo future hip replacement surgeries, according to the suit.
The defendants are accused of negligence in treatment, as Walker’s ability to bear weight on his leg and the state of his hip were never assessed in the Braxton County Memorial Hospital emergency room.
The plaintiff is seeking compensatory damages. The agency is being represented by Arden J. Curry II and Susan C. Brasselle of Pauley Curry PLLC and Lynette Marshall of Warner Law Offices.
The defendants are represented by Barry M. Taylor and Matthew L. Williams of Jenkins Fenstermaker PLLC.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 14-C-1443