CHARLESTON – Another lawsuit has been filed against Charleston Gastroenterology Associates and Dr. Steven R. Matulis for alleged sexual assault and deviation from the standard of medical care.
On Sept. 22, 2014, Kristin Ashley Hager was a patient of the defendants and on that date, Matulis performed a breast examination has part of a physical examination when the medical conditions Hager was being treated for did not require breast examinations, according to a complaint filed Nov. 14 in Kanawha Circuit Court.
Hager claims Matulis deviated from the standard of medical care and made inappropriate and sexually suggestive and explicit remarks and comments to her.
Charleston Gastroenterology Associates continued to employ Matulis after his breach of standards of care, according to the suit.
Hager claims that CGA breached the standards of care owed to its patients as a result of Matulis’ negligent conduct.
Hager is seeking compensatory damages with pre- and post-judgment interest. She is being represented by Kelly J. Guice of Jan Dils-Attorneys at Law.
Earlier this month, a class action lawsuit was filed against CGA and Matulis, alleging sexual assault on unconscious women during colonoscopies.
Day Surgery Limited Liability Company was also named as a defendant in the class action lawsuit.
In that lawsuit, the plaintiff, known only as Jane Doe, alleged that during a colonoscopy, she was sexually assaulted by Matulis.
Doe claimed she was alerted to Matulis’ conduct on April 5 when she learned of a news report that he had been sued for sexually assaulting a female patient during a recent colonoscopy and that his privileges to practice medicine at a local hospital had been suspended and then terminated as a result of the allegations and that he had reportedly engaged in a pattern and practice of sexually assaulting female patients during colonoscopies.
Doe claimed she became concerned that she may have been sexually assaulted by Matulis and that her colonoscopy was not performed within the standard of care, even if she had not been physically assaulted by Matulis, “due to him likely being distracted by his reported perversion and his proclivity for sexually assaulting unconscious female patients during colonoscopies.”
Given his pattern and practice of sexually assaulting female patients during colonoscopies, it is more likely than not that Matulis suffered from impaired professional judgment when performing Doe’s colonoscopy and it is more likely than not that Matulis’ impaired professional judgment was chronic in nature in the absence of professional intervention and had likely manifested itself with his female patients for many years, according to the suit.
P. Rodney Jackson of the Law Offices of P. Rodney Jackson represents the class in the class action lawsuit along with Stuart Calwell of the Calwell Practice. Jackson previously said they are expecting the class to be in the hundreds.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 16-C-1709
