On November 13, a complaint was filed against the Hospital Authority of Valdosta and Lowndes County and Brian Dawson, MD, for harassment connected with the plaintiffs reporting of laboratory errors and bad practices. The claim was filed in the State Court of Lowndes County in Georgia and alleges that the defendants colluded to harass the plaintiff out of practice in the county as retaliation for the plaintiff’s demands for improved patient care.
The plaintiff, an infectious disease specialist, said they made several complaints regarding false or incomplete lab tests and bad practices that encouraged these types of results. No corrective action appeared to be taken regarding these complaints. However, when SGMA’s lab accreditation was affected by the presence of the complaints, the plaintiff alleges that the defendants engaged in a campaign to drum up or encourage complaints against the plaintiff. This resulted in the plaintiff losing privileges at SGMC and receiving increasing levels of harassment until the plaintiff left practice at the hospital and in the county.
The injuries include the shuttering of the plaintiff’s practice in the city of Valdosta and the creation of new facilities in new cities, including the costs associated there. In addition to these extra costs, the plaintiff seeks damages for wages lost during the harassment and for reputational damages associated with the events.
The plaintiff is represented by Savage, Turner, Durham, Pinckney & Savage.
