HUNTINGTON — A man is suing River Cities Anesthesia for injuries he sustained during spinal surgery.
Drs. Barlett Allen Stone, Soe M. Aung and Johnathan Johnson and Nuvasive Clinical Services Monitoring also were named as defendants in the suit.
William Prince had spinal surgery at St. Mary's Medical Center in Huntington on Oct. 15, 2020, wherein Stone was the anesthesiologist for the surgery and Aung and Johnson performed neurophysiological monitoring during the surgery, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
Prince claims Stone failed to put bite blocks in place and/or failed to properly secure the bite blocks in his mouth prior to the surgery. He also claims Aung and Johnson, or a tech under their supervision, failed to confirm that bite blocks were in place and, as a result, the plaintiff bit his tongue during the surgery.
"Dr. Stone, Dr. Aung, and Dr. Johnson owed Plaintiff a duty to exercise that degree of care, skill, and learning required or expected of a reasonable, prudent health care provider acting in the same or similar circumstances," the complaint states. "Dr. Stone, Dr. Aung, and Dr. Johnson, while acting within the scope of their employment, were negligent, careless, and reckless, and deviated from the standard of care in connection with their treatment of Plaintiff..."
The defendants knew or should have known that deviating from the appropriate standard of care could result in injury to a patient and their failure to follow the accepted standard of care would deprive the plaintiff of recovery and an increased risk of harm, according to the suit.
Prince is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. He is represented by Stephen P. New and Russell A. Williams of New, Taylor & Associates.
In one answer to the complaint, one of the defendants, Aung, denied the allegations against him.
"Defendant Aung denies that he breached any affirmative duty owed to Plaintiff," the answer. states. "Defendant Aung denies that he proximately caused any injury to Plaintiff. The injuries and/or damages claimed in this lawsuit were the proximate result of natural disease processes, preexisting conditions, accidental injuries, and/or illnesses, and not the alleged negligence of Defendant Aung.
Aung argues that if the injuries and/or damages being claimed in this lawsuit were a proximate result of negligence, such negligence was that of persons, firms, or corporations over whom Aung had no control and for whom Aung is not responsible.
Aung is represented by Brent P. Copenhaver and Jenny L. Hayhurst of Morgantown.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number: 3:22-cv-00349