Family blames doctors for woman's death

STAFF WRITER

Four Kentucky and West Virginia doctors and some of their businesses are being sued for prescribing more than 5,000 pills over a period of one year to South Williamson attorney Lafe “Dee” Preston Ward Jr., who was charged with murder after he was involved in an automobile accident last year.

Mingo County resident Benita Wirleen Dixon died when her car was hit by Ward's vehicle as she pulled out of the South Williamson Wal-Mart intersection in January 2006. Ward is suspected of driving under the influence.

Dixon's husband, Greg, is suing South Williamson's Dr. Vellaiappan Somasundaram; Dr. J. Timothy Kohari and his business, Primary Care Associates of Williamson, W.Va.; Dr. Diane E. Shafer, who used to practice in Kentucky and Pennsylvania; Dr. Lawrence B. Kelly of West Virginia and other unknown defendants who are described as employees of these physicians or as their “alter ego.”

The suit, filed by Pikeville attorney Michael Lucas, claims that the defendants violated state and federal statutes regulating the distribution of prescription medication when they collectively prescribed Ward more than 5,000 pills within one year of Jan. 10, 2006, the day the accident occurred in South Williamson. The list of controlled substances prescribed to Ward includes Lortab, a pain killer, Ambien, a sleep aid, and mood stabilizers like Darvon, Valium, Paxil, Lorazepam and Lithium.

The physicians prescribed the medications while knowing that Ward was “an alcoholic and controlled substance abuser,” Lucas claims, “who operated automobiles while under the influence of said controlled substances.”

Lucas accuses the physicians of failing to investigate, monitor or supervise the prescription and dispensing of medication to Ward, failing to document or conduct medical examinations in order to justify the prescriptions, failing to follow controlled substances protocols and failing to coordinate between themselves the distribution of medication to Ward.

The physicians didn't comply with the appropriate standard of care for Ward because they excessively and inappropriately prescribed him medication, failed to address his substance abuse problem and kept poor documentation or inadequate medication logs, Lucas claims in the suit. He argues that the medication and treatment given to Ward was not justified by his medical records.

Lucas, seeking compensatory and punitive damages for Greg Dixon and his wife's estate for her personal injury and wrongful death, claims that the negligence and carelessness of the physicians endangered Ward and the general public.

He would not speak publicly about the suit, which was sealed at his request by Circuit Judge Eddy Coleman so that the details of the case would not affect Ward's criminal case. Ward is scheduled to stand trial for murder next month. He and his South Williamson law firm are also named in another pending civil case brought out in reference to Dixon's death.

“Many physicians prescribe medications to patients who have a history of alcohol abuse,” said Dr. Kohari, the owner of Primary Care Associates of Williamson. “It is very common because you use medication to help with the problem. That's not grounds for a suit. It's a terrible, terrible thing that she was killed, but I just don't..... They want to have him prosecuted. He did something wrong, I agree. I don't know why they're bringing in everyone who saw him as a patient.”

Kohari and Somasundaram, who did not return calls, both have active medical licenses in Kentucky and neither of them have faced disciplinary problems over the past 10 years, according to the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure. No information was provided on the West Virginia Board of Medicine's web site about Kelly, who also did not return calls.

Shafer, whom Lucas claims “left the county of her residence” or “concealed herself” so that a summons could not be served, did not return calls or e-mails requesting comment.

Her medical license was suspended in 1993 after she was accused of filing false documents to help one of her patients get workers' compensation and after she was convicted of bribing a Kentucky Medical Board hearing officer, with whom she had a “secretive personal/sexual relationship” during a time that her license was under review, according to a West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals decision published in 2000. The appellate court affirmed the decision to reinstate Shafer's license, deciding that she is a “hardworking, valuable member of her medically under-served community.” She worked as an orthopedic surgeon in the Tug Valley area for more than 20 years.

Some cases alleging fault for doctors who prescribed drugs to a person who, because of the medication, harmed a third party, have been successful, according to Dr. Michael Healy, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the University of Kentucky College of Law, but the cases usually center around the physician not telling the patient about the effects of the medication.

Healy said the allegations in this case come as an extension of “social host” cases in which, for example, a plaintiff alleges that he or she was injured by someone who provided alcohol to person that caused an accident or otherwise hurt a third party. A lot of judges won't rule against defendants in these types of cases, he said, because it's difficult to determine if the defendants could foresee a risk to a third party.