Five more King cases settled

WINFIELD – Five cases involving Dr. John King have been settled by the state's medical malpractice insurer.

On July 30, Putnam Circuit Judge Ed Eagloski signed off on the settlements by the state's Board of Risk and Insurance Management, which is now known as the West Virginia Mutual Insurance Company. The five suits are the only ones under which King was covered by BRIM. It also will not pay more than $1 million in a single case or more than $3 million for any one doctor. So the five defendants – Philip and Andrea Fortner, Cynthia Reed, Regina Bird, Pam McGrew and Cecil Carter – split the $3 million equally.

King, an osteopathic physician, was named in more than 120 medical malpractice lawsuits for surgeries he did while at Putnam General Hospital. In recent months, many of those lawsuits have been settled with Putnam General and former owner HCA.

Further legal action against King is in limbo because he filed for bankruptcy in Alabama in December.