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Dr. John King's credentials doubted repeatedly(Charleston Gazette, The (WV) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Aug. 6--Putnam General Hospital insists that Dr. John King, the osteopath whose malpractice lawsuits have forced it to close, was credentialed as an orthopedic surgeon. But documents from key accrediting organizations show that King was denied time and again in his efforts to have his surgery residency training certified. King spawned more than 100 lawsuits alleging that he killed or maimed patients during his six months at the hospital. When Putnam General parent company Hospital Corp. of America Inc. announced last week that it will close the facility, it blamed the lawsuits but rejected claims that King never completed a necessary residency in orthopedic surgery. Before Putnam hired King in December 2002, his American Medical Association "profile" showed that he had completed an accredited residency program in orthopedics, said Mark A. Foust, vice president of marketing for HCA's Capital Division in Richmond, Va. Independent physicians at the hospital also had recommended that King be allowed to practice there, Foust said. "All I can say is that our position is clearly that when Dr. King applied for privileges, his application was reviewed," Foust said on Friday. "And at that time, the AMA profile showed he had completed a training residency program in orthopedics." But the American Osteopathic Association concluded on several occasions throughout the late 1990s and in 2000 that King never completed the four years of residency required in orthopedic surgery. And among the records it reviewed in rejecting the certification were those from an accrediting council and from a medical board affiliated with the AMA. King graduated from osteopathic medical school in 1984 and apparently completed two years of residency at the Hillcrest Medical Center, part of the Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Oklahoma City, between May 1993 and March 1995, when he was terminated. In two lawsuits, he alleged that he was "terminated in retaliation for reporting that the defendants were committing Medicare and/or Medicaid fraud." Both lawsuits were dismissed. King subsequently asked the American Osteopathic Association to certify that he completed two years of residency at the Bronx Lebanon Hospital in New York City, from Oct. 23, 1995, to Nov. 1, 1997. The association refused. In a Nov. 21, 1997, letter to King, Dr. Carolyn Swallow, a member of the association's Council on Postdoctoral Training, wrote that "documentation submitted for review does not support the residency training requirements in orthopedic surgery." In making its decision, Swallow's council had reviewed training records from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, or ACGME, which is a coalition whose member organizations include the AMA. Still, King continued his efforts to have his residency training certified so he could be certified as an osteopathic surgeon -- but he repeatedly was denied. In a 1999 letter to Swallow from Dr. Morton Morris, executive director of the American Osteopathic Academy of Orthopedics, Morris said King appeared to have only two years of the necessary training. "We have information indicating that he completed two years of an approved AOA-accredited orthopedic surgical residency training program at the Hillcrest Health Center," Morris writes. But "we have no information to indicate that Dr. King was ever an orthopedic resident in an approved ACGME orthopedic surgical residency program." Consequently, Morris wrote, his organization's evaluating committee "would not be in a position to evaluate Dr. King's training in any non-approved programs." Another 1999 letter to Swallow -- from Dr. Steven P. Nestler, who reviewed residencies for the ACGME -- reveals that the orthopedic surgery residency program at Bronx Lebanon's Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center was discontinued in June 1996, eight months after King said he arrived at that facility. Dr. G. Paul DeRosa, executive director of the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery, part of the AMA, wrote to Swallow on Oct. 18, 1999, stating, "After an extensive search through our files, we found no documentation to support that Dr. King did such a residency." "Our search indicated that Dr. King was not in an ACGME-approved residency training program for the period of October 1995 to November 1997, so [King] would not be given credit by our board as having performed postgraduate education as a resident in orthopedic surgery." The chairman of Bronx Lebanon's orthopedic residency program, Dr. Harvey P. Insler, did sign a 1999 affidavit affirming that King worked at the hospital, participating in "all residency functions." But that program was not accredited. King then filed multiple appeals seeking to have his residency recognized, to no avail: -- The American Osteopathic Association's Appeal Committee of the Council on Postdoctoral Training denied King's appeal of the earlier denial of his residency certification on Nov. 12, 1999. Swallow informed King of the denial in a Nov. 19, 1999, letter. -- The American Osteopathic Association's Bureau of Professional Education upheld earlier decisions to deny King credit for the residency program at Bronx Lebanon Hospital. That denial came in a Feb. 2, 2000, letter to King. The bureau said its decision was based on the fact that neither the ACGME nor the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery recognized the orthopedic residency program at Bronx Lebanon. -- The Appeal Committee of the osteopathic association's board of trustees then denied a third appeal by King seeking to certify his residency training. That denial came in July 2000. After King applied for staff privileges at Putnam General, hospital officials asked Bronx Lebanon to verify whether it provided residency training to King, in an Oct. 30, 2002, inquiry. Janet Gonzaga, a clerical associate at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health, returned the form to Putnam General on Dec. 6, 2002, but without verifying the training. Asked whether King's residency training was "completed" at Lincoln, Gonzaga checked neither the "yes" nor the "no" response space. Instead, she wrote "N/A," apparently meaning "not applicable." When asked about Gonzaga's response and other letters about King's residency on Friday, Foust said, "I don't recall those particulars." This past March, King had his name legally changed to Christopher Wallace Martin. The change was approved by a Dothan, Ala., probate judge. To contact staff writer Paul J. Nyden, use e-mail or call 348-5164. |