News in brief - Nov. 24, 2003

Hospital staff lawsuit OK'd - Government to retry pain specialist - O'Neill named new CEO of PRHI

Hospital staff lawsuit OK'd

A California judge in late October said the medical staff at Community Memorial Hospital of San Buenaventura can go forward with a lawsuit accusing the hospital of stripping the medical staff of its self-governance.

After an August ruling that said the medical staff's complaint was improper because it focused on individual physicians' rights, Superior Court Judge Henry Walsh in October said physicians could go forward with a rewritten complaint that shows that there's a direct interest for all medical staff members, according to the California Medical Assn.

The judge had ruled earlier that the medical staff has standing to sue.

Government to retry pain specialist

A federal jury in Virginia found a pain specialist not guilty of 30 of 69 counts accusing him of illegally prescribing pain medication, including OxyContin. But Cecil Byron Knox III, MD, will be retried on the remaining 39 counts on which a jury in Roanoke, Va., could not reach consensus, according to federal prosecutors. The retrial will include charges that the physician contributed to patient deaths or serious bodily injuries.

In February 2002, the government accused Dr. Knox of conspiring to distribute or dispense controlled substances outside the scope of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose, according to the U.S. attorney's office in the Western District of Virginia. He, along with two of his employees, were charged with several counts of illegal distribution and conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Dr. Knox's attorney was not available for comment at press time.

O'Neill named new CEO of PRHI

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill has been named chief executive officer of the Pittsburgh Regional Healthcare Initiative, an organization he helped form in 1998 and which now includes 35 hospitals, four insurers and more than 30 businesses in the Pittsburgh area.

PRHI spokeswoman Naida Grunden said employment terms were confidential and would not say if O'Neill would be paid.

Between 1987 and 1999, O'Neill served as president and chair of the Pittsburgh-based aluminum producer Alcoa, where he received accolades for his role in improving employee safety.

PRHI has listed as its goals eliminating all medication errors and nosocomial infections at Pittsburgh area hospitals, and having area physicians work together to achieve "the world's best patient outcomes" in cardiac surgery, hip and knee replacement, obstetrics, depression and diabetes.