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Six claim Wheaton negligent in operating Pain Clinic
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| Mercy Hospital |
OELWEIN – Six people have jointly filed a lawsuit against the Mercy Hospital Pain Clinic, that once operated in Oelwein, and the two nurse anesthetists that worked there.
The plaintiffs have brought eight counts against Perry Comeau, Keith Barnhill and Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare, the controlling entity of the Pain Clinic. Those counts include charges of negligence, medical battery, failure to disclose information to patients, violating Iowa code, unjust enrichment, negligent and intentional misrepresentation, and conspiracy.
The six plaintiffs are Kelli Haun, Charles Nicolay, Sherry Meike and Shirley Ziegler, all of Oelwein, and Dorna Hartgrave, currently of Milwaukee, Wis., and Keith Koile of Fairbank.
All the plaintiffs are former patients of Comeau and Barnhill and received treatment at the now defunct Pain Clinic.
Comeau was the director of the Clinic, and he and Barnhill both acted as nurse anesthetists there.
The lawsuit claims that the plaintiffs received unnecessary and excessive pain injections and related procedures at the Clinic, for the purpose of generating income for the defendants. It also claims that the defendants jointly concealed from the plaintiffs, and other patients, the lack of medical basis or justification for the types of treatments they were performing, and often provided treatment beyond their expertise without the knowledge of the plaintiff’s treating physicians.
It is also alleged that the Clinic used billing codes for procedures that were not consistent with the procedure actually performed, and that the plaintiffs were overcharged and over treated.
Read more of this story in the Daily Register.
The plaintiffs have brought eight counts against Perry Comeau, Keith Barnhill and Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare, the controlling entity of the Pain Clinic. Those counts include charges of negligence, medical battery, failure to disclose information to patients, violating Iowa code, unjust enrichment, negligent and intentional misrepresentation, and conspiracy.
The six plaintiffs are Kelli Haun, Charles Nicolay, Sherry Meike and Shirley Ziegler, all of Oelwein, and Dorna Hartgrave, currently of Milwaukee, Wis., and Keith Koile of Fairbank.
All the plaintiffs are former patients of Comeau and Barnhill and received treatment at the now defunct Pain Clinic.
Comeau was the director of the Clinic, and he and Barnhill both acted as nurse anesthetists there.
The lawsuit claims that the plaintiffs received unnecessary and excessive pain injections and related procedures at the Clinic, for the purpose of generating income for the defendants. It also claims that the defendants jointly concealed from the plaintiffs, and other patients, the lack of medical basis or justification for the types of treatments they were performing, and often provided treatment beyond their expertise without the knowledge of the plaintiff’s treating physicians.
It is also alleged that the Clinic used billing codes for procedures that were not consistent with the procedure actually performed, and that the plaintiffs were overcharged and over treated.
Read more of this story in the Daily Register.
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The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of communitynewspapergroup.com.
Christopher wrote on Jan 17, 2010 11:24 PM:
" How dare these nurses. Deception at its finest. Interventional pain medicine requires fellowship training. This means sub-specialty training for DOCTORS. Anesthesia nurses are just that, nurses. Wow. Hang them high. "
Citizen wrote on Jan 24, 2010 10:22 AM:
" This case is a direct result of the American Association of NURSE Anesthestists (AANA) lobbying and complicity in pushing for nurses to perform a medical doctor's job. It reeks of greed, carelessness and total disregard for patient safety.
These nurses are trying to practice medicine without the legal or professional qualifications to do so.
They are actively lobbying state legislatures to be allowed to perform a medical doctor's job without ever stepping foot in a medical school. They want to achieve through legislation what they were not able to achieve through education.
They need to be taught a lesson about patient safety and the american society of nurse anesthetists needs to be discouraged legally from continuing to support the expansion of its nurse members into areas that require physician-level training to practice.
I hope the public and the courts realize the dangeer that nurse anesthetists pose to the public in general and they thrwart their efforts to keep harming patients. "
These nurses are trying to practice medicine without the legal or professional qualifications to do so.
They are actively lobbying state legislatures to be allowed to perform a medical doctor's job without ever stepping foot in a medical school. They want to achieve through legislation what they were not able to achieve through education.
They need to be taught a lesson about patient safety and the american society of nurse anesthetists needs to be discouraged legally from continuing to support the expansion of its nurse members into areas that require physician-level training to practice.
I hope the public and the courts realize the dangeer that nurse anesthetists pose to the public in general and they thrwart their efforts to keep harming patients. "
sidney wrote on Jan 24, 2010 5:14 PM:
" this is a prime example of greed and ever expanding scope of practice of unqualified care givers. this facility is well known for that. they aim to make money at the expense of patients. the ceo,cfo and chief of the hospital should are liable in civial court. "
concerned wrote on Dec 23, 2009 4:00 PM: