Lawsuits tarnish KDMC credibility.

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Lawsuits tarnish KDMC credibility

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Friday, August 10, 2001 Tri-State News 7 Day Archive- Monday-

Tuesday- Wednesday- Thursday- Friday- Saturday- Sunday

Lawsuits tarnish KDMC credibility

Latest accusations paint an ugly picture of staff,

surgeons at Kentucky hospital

By ROGER ALFORD - The Associated Press

ASHLAND -- The scene could have come directly from

daytime TV: A patient lying in an operating room with fully outfitted doctors

and nurses performing lifesaving open-heart surgery.

Suddenly, an angry colleague kicks open the doors to the

room and physically assaults the lead surgeon because of a disagreement about

who should remove a vein for use in a heart bypass.

That was one of the allegations included in the latest

of four lawsuits filed among heart surgeons at King's Daughters Medical Center

in Ashland.

Other allegations made in the lawsuits might as easily

have been borrowed from television dramas. One says a surgeon carried a gun to

work. Another asserts a homophobic administrator wanted to get rid of all gay

and lesbian employees. And yet another claims a number of unnecessary heart

surgeries have been performed at the hospital.

Potential patients are left wondering whether to believe

the accusations -- or the denials -- as they turn up in state and federal

courts.

Kathy McCormick, a union organizer who represents

employees at King's Daughters, said her sister, who is facing heart surgery,

plans to go to another hospital.

" Patient care ought to be on the front burner, not all

this tomfoolery,'' said McCormick, who lives in Grayson.

Dr. Philip Fioret, the hospital's director of medical

affairs, said administrators and physicians at King's Daughters have worked hard

to recruit top heart surgeons.

Although they are at odds in the courts, they still

provide excellent medical care, he said.

Over the past year, two of Ashland's five heart surgeons

have left the hospital. Administrators have begun the search for replacements.

Dr. Richman stopped performing surgeries at the

hospital, claiming in court documents that other physicians destroyed his

medical practice by making false and baseless allegations against him.

Dr. relocated to Pikeville Methodist

Hospital. , who was not named in any of the lawsuits, said the turmoil

had nothing to do with his move.

Richman made the claim about the operating room scene in

a lawsuit filed in recent weeks. He said rival surgeons have essentially tried

to force him to leave Ashland.

Lawyers for King's Daughters said many of the claims

being made have been immaterial, impertinent and scandalous. They've asked that

some allegations be stricken from the lawsuits. Attorneys representing the

surgeons claim the allegations are both pertinent and true.

" Credibility is so important, especially with something

as significant as heart surgery,'' Fioret said.

Jim Purgerson, head of the economic development group

Ashland Alliance, said the disputes between surgeons are " little bumps in the

road'' that should not affect public trust in the heart program.

" I don't see it as anything that is out of the ordinary

to have disputes, conflicts, even lawsuits,'' he said.

All of the surgeons referred questions to their

attorneys.

Gordon Dill, an Ashland attorney representing Richman,

said allegations against his client, who was accused of carrying the gun, have

been made for dramatic value.

Dill said the turmoil is unfortunate for the heart

program and for Ashland-area residents.

" I can't separate out all the motivations,'' he said.

" You can't count out huge amounts of money as being motivating factors.

Certainly egos are a factor.''

In addition to the accusations about the physician

bursting into the operating room while he was performing open-heart surgery,

Richman, in a lawsuit against the hospital, made the allegation about a witch

hunt for gays and lesbians on staff.

" In all honesty, there has been behavior in this matter

that is so bizarre as to push the limits of credulity,'' Dill said. " But I can

tell you that it happened.''

Dr. , a cardiologist who left Ashland a month

ago to begin a practice in Lancaster, Pa., said tensions between individual

physicians were obvious.

" They don't work well together because, I believe,

they're going through lawsuits against each other,'' he said. " I have not seen

it impact the outcome of an individual from my cases, but I can't speak for

other doctors.''

Heart surgeons Dr. Leonard Lapkin and Dr. ,

along with Lapkin's wife, psychiatrist Dr. Lapkin, filed the first

lawsuit against Richman, claiming he violated a non-compete clause after he left

their practice at Eastern Kentucky Cardiothoracic Surgery and began working for

another medical group.

That was followed by a federal lawsuit against the

hospital and Cumberland Cardiology, the surgical group that Richman joined. That

suit claims the hospital and Cumberland Cardiology steered patients away from

Eastern Kentucky Cardiothoracic Surgery.

Next came a defamation suit by Richman against the

Lapkins and .

More recently, Richman filed an additional lawsuit

against the hospital, Cumberland Cardiology, cardiologist Dr. us and

heart surgeon Dr. Heuer, essentially claiming they have damaged his

personal and professional reputation to increase profits for themselves.

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