CHARLESTON – A Putnam County man who went through multiple surgeries is seeking financial restitution for damages, citing alleged negligence on behalf of his doctor.
Richard Morgan filed suit in Kanawha Circuit Court against Charleston physician Dionisio Policarpio.
According to the suit, Policarpio admitted Morgan into Putnam General Hospital on May 23, 2003, for a laparoscopic cholecystectomy, which allegedly resulted in a perforation of the plaintiff's gall bladder.
The defendant also allegedly forgot to remove the retained gall stones from the patient's body, as result of this initial alleged mistake, the suit claims. The defendant also failed to perform a cholangiography which would have revealed the retention of these gall stones. At no point was the patient allegedly informed of any of this by the defendant, who simply released his patient to his general physician afterward, according to the suit.
The suit claims that after his discharge, the plaintiff allegedly suffered bouts of severe abdominal pain and was admitted by his family physician back to Putnam General to undergo certain diagnostic procedures to discern what was wrong. A later consult with surgeon Leonard Fichter led to a diagnosis of bile duct obstruction and a surgery was performed, in which the aforementioned gall stones were discovered. The plaintiff went on to have several other medical procedures to remedy the situation, incurring more bills, the suit claims.
The plaintiff is suing the defendant for fraud, negligence, personal injury, pain and suffering, emotional distress, mental anguish, loss of income, loss of ability to enjoy life, a reduction in life expectancy and other legally recoverable damages.
He seeks in excess of the court's minimum jurisdictional amount, including reimbursement for medical fees past and future, interest, court costs, attorney fees and other such damages as the court sees fit, and a trial by jury.
The plaintiff is being represented by Daniel Holstein of Holstein Law Office in St. Albans. The case has been assigned to Kanawha Circuit Court Judge Stucky.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 15-c-1390.