Ousted doctor now advising attorneys Charleston Daily Mail Therese Smith April 01, 2004 A former Teays Valley orthopedic surgeon who was stripped of his medical license by West Virginia authorities now travels the Southeast in a camper, advising lawyers in personal injury cases, court records show. Dr. John Anderson King, formerly of Ivy Dale Road, gave up his license Sept. 1, 2003. That was three months after Putnam General Hospital temporarily suspended his privileges. The West Virginia Board of Osteopathy has since voted to revoke his license. "We decided we needed to totally rescind his license to prevent him from practicing medicine in this state," said Dr. Ernest Miller of Parkersburg, board president. The board's staff and several area lawyers who intend to sue him on behalf of patients have been unable to reach King. Neither has the Daily Mail. But on Feb. 11, King showed up in Nashville, Tenn., for a deposition in a Texas malpractice case against him. In the deposition, King said his address is 11310 South Orange Blossom Trail, Suite 232, Orlando, Fla. That's the address for a UPS Store at Waterbridge Downs Shopping Center. King, 45, said that since leaving West Virginia, he primarily has worked as an adviser to about 200 attorneys in personal injury cases in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Florida. "I evaluate (patients) for their claims to see if they're legitimate to go through litigation or settlement," King said, noting that he examines patients at other doctors' offices. He said he also is involved in a business that does estate planning for physicians and that he and his partners plan to buy an insurance company. He does not have credentials at any hospitals, but still has licenses to practice medicine in 13 states. Texas and Alabama are considering taking disciplinary action against King. When asked what led to the termination of his privileges at Putnam General, King said: "I don't even want to go there because I've been instructed by the United States Attorney not to discuss the matter. I am currently viewed as a cooperating witness."
However, Monica Schwartz, assistant U.S. attorney for West Virginia's southern district, said it's against American Bar Association rules of professional conduct for a lawyer to instruct someone not to testify in a deposition. It would be a violation for me to obstruct a person's right to obtain information," Schwartz said. In the deposition, King said he received a law degree from Greenwich University in 1997 through a distance-learning program. However, he acknowledged that he has never taken a bar exam and does not have a law license in any state. Putnam General officials originally granted King privileges to practice in November 2002. The hospital temporarily suspended him June 5, 2003. Frank Molinaro, the hospital's chief executive officer, said the suspension became permanent when King gave up his state license last September. Hospital officials allowed King's orthopedic physician assistant, Dave McNair, to participate in surgery with him though McNair did not hold a West Virginia license, according to the osteopathic board. McNair also worked with King in Texas and Tennessee, records show. "That person should not have been working as a PA," Miller said. However, Molinaro said the hospital employed McNair as a surgical technician, not as a physician assistant. Under those circumstances, McNair would not need a license. Records filed with the osteopathic board show King graduated from the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1984. Though he participated in at least four different residency-training programs -- orthopedic medicine, obstetrics/gynecology and two in anesthesia -- it's not clear whether he successfully completed any of them, his records and the deposition show. A trail of legal documents shows at least six pending personal injury suits against King that former patients have filed in Jefferson County, Texas. Charleston lawyers Bill Druckman and Richard Lindsay have filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against King and Putnam General for clients Cecil R. Carter and his wife, Rita Carter, in Putnam Circuit Court. Druckman and Lindsay plus lawyers John Curry, Jack Tolliver and Frank Armada said they plan to file dozens of additional suits against King and the hospital. King canceled his medical malpractice insurance policy with the West Virginia Board of Risk and Insurance Management on Aug. 22, 2003, effectively preventing possible plaintiffs from recovering any damages in suits filed after that.
However, in most, if not all, of the suits, Putnam General also will be named as a defendant. Writer Therese Smith can be reached at 348-4874.