A former physician’s assistant currently in prison for sexually assaulting veterans during medical exams is the subject of a slew of civil lawsuits, including medical malpractice. Mark E. Wisner is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence for crimes committed while he worked at the Eisenhower Veterans Administration Medical Center in Leavenworth, Kansas, from 2008 to 2014.
The attorneys representing nearly 70 veteran victims so far predicted that as many as 100 civil lawsuits will be filed against Wisner seeking damages of $2 million or more. In addition, the legal team said the number of victims actually may be as high as nearly 200.
Wisner was convicted in August and sentenced to prison in November. His physician’s assistant license was revoked in 2015.
Malpractice, failure to monitor
The three latest lawsuits – filed in March – include claims that hospital officials had “actual knowledge” that Wisner had committed “widespread, large-scale malpractice” on patients and neglected to supervise him or stop his actions. Other claims within the lawsuits included that:
- Veterans Administration (VA) files monitored by Wisner held mis-prescription and over-prescription of medications, showing that he provided negligent care for veterans.
- Wisner’s supervisors failed proper hiring screenings that would have discovered he had been arrested for a sex crime in 1987.
- The VA failed to report Wisner’s conduct and actions to law enforcement.
Veterans and any hospital patient, for that matter, should not be subjected to such mistreatment. It’s an outrage and a disgrace that these vulnerable people who need help are being mistreated in medical facilities – places that should be trusted environments.
