West Va. Judge OKs Hospital Settlements with 9 More King Patients

A circuit judge has approved settlements totaling more than $10 million in nine more malpractice lawsuits that accused a former West Virginia doctor of harming patients.

Lawyers for Putnam General Hospital and the hospital’s parent company, Hospital Corporation of America Inc., reached the settlements totaling $10.4 million with the estates of nine of Dr. John A. King’s patients.

They were approved last Thursday by Putnam Circuit Judge O.C. Spaulding, who also approved three other settlements totalling $2.4 million on May 6.

King, an osteopathic surgeon who practiced at Putnam General from November 2002 to June 2003, remains a defendant in the lawsuits, which allege that he botched surgeries or otherwide harmed patients.

Dozens more settlements are awaiting a judge’s approval.