Here are three lawsuits filed or resolved in the last month involving anesthesiologists or anesthesia groups:
- An anesthesiologist was accused of negligence during a 2021 spinal surgery in a lawsuit filed against Morgantown. W.Va.-based J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital. On Oct. 8, 2021, David Gentry underwent a spinal procedure requiring anesthesia. He allegedly suffered severe skin-tear injuries to his shoulder, arms and elbow after hospital staff failed to note his adhesive allergy. Andrew Criser, MD, and Rachel Dada, MD, the attending anesthesiologist and anesthesia resident, respectively, allegedly failed to carefully inspect the patient’s skin prior to and throughout the anesthesia delivery.
- The Federal Trade Commission sued U.S. Anesthesia Partners and its owner and creator, private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe for anticompetitive behavior. The suit alleges the two groups executed a multiyear anticompetitive scheme to consolidate anesthesiology practices in Texas, hike up the price of anesthesia services provided to Texas patients and increase their own profits
- Former Victorville, Calif.-based anesthesiologist Wendell Mark Street, MD, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for illegally prescribing and distributing oxycodone to buyers. He allegedly prescribed 7,769 prescriptions for narcotics, including 437,000 doses of oxycodone, from November 2012 to November 2013.