CHARLESTON – A former college baseball pitcher whose playing career was ended because of unnecessary shoulder surgeries has settled his case with the doctor.
Tyler Lafferty filed his complaint last August in Kanawha Circuit Court against Dr. James B. Cox, Charleston Area Medical Center Inc. doing business as CAMC Teays Valley Hospital and CAMC Orthopedics Teays Valley, Dr. Paul Dexter Akers II and Radiology Inc.
Lafferty was a pitcher for West Virginia State University who began experiencing pain in his right shoulder when throwing in the fall of 2022. He sought and received physical therapy services.
Staun
| File photo
Court records show the case was resolved through mediation. The final paperwork was filed May 12, according to court records.
Cox no longer works for CAMC. An online search shows he recently was hired at McLeod Health in Cheraw, S.C. The provider is touting Cox online to provide “comprehensive orthopedic care and surgical services.” It says he also has expertise in “orthopedic trauma and sports medicine procedures, including arthroscopy and ACL reconstruction.”
Attorney Mark R. Staun, who represented Lafferty, decline to discuss terms of the settlement. He did say the matter was resolved amicably through mediation.
“This case represents yet another example of how Dr. Cox continues to inflict harm on his patients,” Staun told The West Virginia Record last year when the suit originally was filed. “The harm here cost this young man his baseball career and unnecessary surgical procedures which have caused permanent damage to his shoulder.
“This, in combination with Dr. Akers’ failure to see the labrum tear from the outset, which was in plain view on MRI, created a perfect storm culminating in surgery being performed without the consent of Mr. Lafferty. It’s all awful.”
Now, Staun says he has received calls from at least a dozen other former patients of Cox. Their injuries run the gamut from issues with shoulders, knees, hips, wrists, ankles and Achilles’ tendons. He said there are some similarities in all of the stories, such as unnecessary surgeries, inconclusive MRIs and yearslong chronic infections with antibiotic suppression in those who have had artificial joint implants.
According to court filings in the Lafferty case, the athlete met with Cox on January 4, 2023. Cox noted Lafferty presented with a right shoulder sprain, rotator cuff tendonitis and impingement syndrome. Cox gave him a cortisone shot, and Lafferty resumed physical therapy.
“He has been treated so far with physical therapy and has been making good progress with his strength and pain,” Cox wrote in his notes. “The therapist contacted me over the weekend and recommended a subacromial cortisone injection to further decrease rotator cuff tendonitis and hopefully enhance his progress in therapy.”
In July 20023, Lafferty saw Cox again for the right shoulder pain. Cox diagnosed adhesive capsulitis and right rotator cuff tendonitis and ordered an MRI without contrast. Lafferty had the MRI a few days later at Logan Regional Medical Center.
Akers, who works for Radiology Inc., read the MRI, finding “Rotator Cuff tendons: interstitial tears of the supraspinatus tendon posteriorly” and “Labrum: There are no abnormalities.”
On July 19, 2023, Cox told Lafferty he had reviewed the MRI that showed “partial thickness/interstitial tears of the rotator cuff superiorly at the supraspinatus tendon.”
“I recommend arthroscopy of the right shoulder with debridement of partial rotator cuff tear and lysis adhesions with concomitant manipulation under anesthesia of the right shoulder,” Cox wrote.
The complaint says Cox prepared and signed an “Informed Consent To Procedures And Other Medical Services” on July 19, 2023. But Lafferty did not sign the consent, and he says it never was discussed with him by Cox.
The consent form described the possible procedures as acromioplasty, acromioclavicular (AC) joint resolution and rotator cuff repair.
“No injury to or repair of the labrum was mentioned in the consent,” the complaint states.
Lafferty underwent surgery on July 27, 2023. The pre-operative diagnosis was chronic impingement syndrome right shoulder with adhesive capsulitis and partial rotator cuff tear.
“There was no mention of a labrum injury in Dr. Cox’s pre-operative diagnosis,” the complaint states. “However, in surgery, Dr. Cox found a superior labrum anterior to posterior (SLAP) lesion and performed a SLAP lesion repair. No rotator cuff tear was seen or repaired by Dr. Cox.”
Lafferty followed up with Cox and began physical therapy in the fall of 2023, but he says he continued to experience pain when throwing and “did not progress favorably with his rehabilitation plan.”
He had a second MRI on January 18, 2024. That MRI was read by Dr. Francesa Beaman with Radiology Inc. Beaman found no injury to the rotator cuff with no evidence of high-grade partial thickness or full thickness tearing.
Lafferty said he last saw Cox on January 22, 2024. After that, he was seen and treated by Dr. Tim Kremchek at Beacon Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine in Cincinnati and had surgery to release a very tight posterior capsule.
He accused Cox of medical battery and CAMC of vicarious liability for medical battery by Cox, and he accuses all of the defendants of negligence.
He is being represented by Staun, R. Dean Hartley and James M. Barber of Hartley Law Group in Charleston.
Lafferty started 10 games for West Virginia State in 2023. He posted a 4-4 record and threw three complete games, including one shutout. He was named Second Team All-Atlantic Region by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association and was also the only Yellow Jacket to earn First Team All-Mountain East Conference honors that season.
After working his way into the starting rotation, Lafferty was the team’s ace by the end of the season. He had the lowest earned run average (2.33) and opposing batting average (.195) in the MEC.
He played prep ball for Man High and Ambassador Christian School. He is the son of former Man High baseball coach Donald Lafferty.
Cox has been named in numerous lawsuits over the years, recently in some cases involving infected knees.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 24-C-924