John Christian Gunn, a surgeon at Maysville’s Meadowview Regional Medical Center, performed three surgeries that led to the wrongful deaths of those patients between 2005 and 2006.

A medical malpractice lawsuit  filed on behalf of 71-year-old Herberta “Bertie” Lang who died following one of Gunn’s surgeries is now claiming that Meadowview Regional Medical Center was negligent in hiring Gunn as he was not qualified to perform surgeries on patients.As personal injury attorneys who handle medical malpractice cases, we believe this tragedy could have been avoided if Meadowview Regional Medical Center had not been negligent in hiring Mr. Gunn.  If they had only waited for him to be licensed to do surgery three lives would not have been lost.

Lang’s family has sued Meadowview, its former chief executive and the company that operates the hospital for corporate negligence.

Gunn was granted temporary privileges at Meadowview even though he had taken and failed the General Surgery Board exams in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005.  He also failed the exam in 2006.  Hospitals use their own discretion on whether to insist on board certification before allowing physicians to do surgery.

The lawsuit says that Gunn was located by a headhunter and was paid “substantial financial incentives” to start a surgery practice that would expand the range of services available at Meadowview.

While Gunn was hired to do general surgery, he also wanted to perform thoracic and vascular surgery, for which he would be the only surgeon on the staff at Meadowview, according to the medical malpractice lawsuit.

On September 22, 2005, Gunn was granted a temporary permit by the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure, allowing him to practice medicine in the state pending review of his application.  Just four days later, the hospital granted him temporary privileges to perform surgery.

The hospital contends that Gunn was interviewed more than once, that information about him was obtained from “multiple professional references as well as the National Practitioners Data Bank,” and that Gunn was licensed to practice medicine in Kentucky.

We, as a society, place an immense amount of trust into health-care professionals to cure whatever illness we may have.  We put our life in their hands.

But as personal injury lawyers who handle medical malpractice claims, we are concerned with what happens when something goes wrong because they did not give you the best medical treatment available?  Hiring an experienced personal injury attorney will help ease any pain and suffering you may go through during a time of tragedy.

Call us now at 1-800-655-6585 or click here for a FREE CONSULTATION with an experienced personal injury attorney to find out how we may help you.  We look forward to providing good advice to help you make smart decisions about your case in either English or Spanish.

About Michael Pines

Michael Pines is a former insurance company attorney who specializes in car accident injury. While he was an insurance attorney, he learned from behind the scenes on how insurance companies work and how they decided to pay injured people. Now that he works against insurance companies, Michael's inside knowledge has resulted in significant benefits to his clients injured in car accidents.