CHARLESTON – A Delbarton man is suing Williamson Memorial Hospital after he claims it violated HIPAA by disclosing personal information about his surgery.
William Bub Prater was also named as a defendant in the suit.
On Oct. 7, John William Ray was to have surgery performed at Williamson by Dr. Subhash Vyas and Prater was part of the surgical team, according to a complaint filed Dec. 22 in Mingo Circuit Court and removed to federal court on Jan. 26.
Ray claims Vyas performed the surgery to remove an abscess from his testicle and the following Sunday and forced him to provide him with $10 for gas money since he was required to come out to work on a Sunday.
Prater, who was employed by Williamson, also disclosed Ray’s personal information and violated Ray’s privacy rights, according to the suit.
Ray claims Prater made remarks about his testicles to Ray’s daughter and because of that, he suffered an injury-in-fact when the defendants divulged his private medical information, which is considered a legally protected interest.
The defendants had a duty to Ray and breached that duty and were negligent, according to the suit.
Ray claims the defendants caused him to suffer extreme emotional distress and their actions constitute reckless conduct that is unreasonable and outrageous.
Ray is seeking compensatory damages with pre- and post-judgment interest. He is being represented by Justin J. Marcum of Marcum Law Office PLLC.
The hospital is represented by Stephen S. Burchett of Offutt Nord Burchett PLLC.
The case is assigned to District Judge Thomas E. Johnston.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number: 2:16-cv-00811