Southeastern Emergency Physicians dismissed from malpractice complaint

BECKLEY – A Lester woman has settled her malpractice lawsuit, though she will not recover from Southeastern Emergency Physicians.

Debra Sue Terry filed a lawsuit March 29, 2012, against Southeastern and Dr. Timothy Grau, an emergency room physician working at Raleigh General Hospital two years earlier.

According to a joint motion to dismiss filed on May 23 following a mediation session, discovery revealed that Grau was an independent contractor and not an employee of Southeastern Emergency Physicians.

Weeks earlier, Terry dismissed Southeastern from her complaint.

The joint motion added that during the course of mediation, Terry and Grau resolved the case for a confidential amount.

Terry’s complaint said Grau failed to appreciate the seriousness of her condition when she made two emergency room visits in July 2010. She was diagnosed with an abscess that burst.

On July 30, 2010, she was transferred to Charleston Area Medical Center’s Surgical Trauma Intensive Care Unit.

There, she was diagnosed with gangrenous necrotizing fasciitis, which required multiple surgeries, the complaint says. She also suffered from a collapsed lung, respiratory failure and sepsis, the complaint says.

Her complaint said Grau was an employee of Southeastern, but she later found out that wasn’t the case.

Terry was represented by C. Benjamin Salango of Preston & Salango in Charleston. Grau was represented by Amy L. Rothman of Flaherty, Sensabaugh, Bonasso in Charleston.

From the West Virginia Record: Reach John O’Brien at jobrienwv@gmail.com.