CHARLESTON — A Kanawha County man is suing the West Virginia University Board of Governors claiming it was negligent in caring for his late wife.
Linda Lee Connelly was actively under liver transplant evaluation care as of June 29, 2021, at the UMPC Starzl Transplantation Institute in Pittsburgh, and was noted to be an acceptable candidate for orthotopic liver transplantation, according to a complaint filed in Kanawha Circuit Court.
Gary Edward Connelly, Linda Connelly's husband called UPMC on July 9, 2021, because of his wife's altered mental status and it was recommended she go to the local ER, so she was taken to Charleston Area Medical Center for presumed UTI/sepsis and treated with antibiotics. She was discharged on July 14, 2021. She presented again a week later and was admitted.
WVBOG employed Drs. David Allen Adkins, Kevin Harris Smith and Rayan Elizabeth Ihleat the Charleston campus of West Virginia University, according to the suit.
Gary Connelly claims UPMC facilitated him with a doctor-to-doctor number for Linda Connelly's transplant, but emphasized that it was up to the local team in Charleston regarding whether they want to transfer her. The defendant's physicians never initiated a physician-to-physician call.
Linda Connelly's condition deteriorated after July 30, 2021, meaning she was no longer a candidate for a liver transplant and she died on Aug. 2, 2021.
Gary Connelly claims the defendants were negligent and deviated from the standard of care.
Gary Connelly is seeking compensatory damages. He is represented by R. Dean Hartley and Mark R. Staun of Hartley Law Group in Charleston.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 23-C-861