CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The Pennsylvania Board of Osteopathic Medicine has scheduled a hearing in Harrisburg on April 6 about whether it should revoke the medical license of Dr. John A. King.

King is the osteopathic surgeon who generated 124 medical malpractice suits while he was a staff physician at Putnam General Hospital between November 2002 and June 2003.

The Pennsylvania board's order for a hearing focuses on the revocation of King's license by the Alabama Board of Medical Practitioners last year on Sept. 17.

The Pennsylvania board cites the Alabama board's grounds for its license revocation, including: "unprofessional conduct," practicing medicine in such a manner as to endanger the health of [his] patients" and a "demonstrated lack of basic medical knowledge or clinical competency."

In a Nov. 11 order, the Pennsylvania board stated it was "authorized to suspend or revoke, or otherwise restrict [King's] license, or impose a civil penalty" because King never reported the Alabama board's action to the Pennsylvania board.

King wrote a response to Jay Holstein, a lawyer for the Pennsylvania board, on Dec. 12, stating the Alabama board was "most distasteful, inflammatory and inaccurate in many of the alleged facts within their order."

King also argued, as he has in other states where he once held licenses, that the Pennsylvania board cannot revoke his medical license because he had already voluntarily withdrawn his license there.

"Having not practiced medicine in the state of Pennsylvania since 1992, I decided to place the [Pennsylvania] license on an inactive status [in October 2008] and no longer have a valid license to practice medicine in your state....

"I am not quite sure how many bullets you wish to shoot into a dead man who is in bankruptcy, unemployed and unemployable at the current time," King stated in his Dec. 12 letter to Holstein.

The Pennsylvania board originally scheduled a formal hearing for King on Feb. 13, but postponed it to April 6 after King asked for an extension.

"I am also requesting another prosecuting attorney in this matter who can perceive a fresh look at this case and not have their personal agendas being displayed," King wrote in a Jan 23 letter to the Pennsylvania board.

King is the osteopathic surgeon who generated 124 medical malpractice suits while he was a staff physician at Putnam General Hospital between November 2002 and June 2003.

The Pennsylvania board's order for a hearing focuses on the revocation of King's license by the Alabama Board of Medical Practitioners last year on Sept. 17.

The Pennsylvania board cites the Alabama board's grounds for its license revocation, including: "unprofessional conduct," practicing medicine in such a manner as to endanger the health of [his] patients" and a "demonstrated lack of basic medical knowledge or clinical competency."

In a Nov. 11 order, the Pennsylvania board stated it was "authorized to suspend or revoke, or otherwise restrict [King's] license, or impose a civil penalty" because King never reported the Alabama board's action to the Pennsylvania board.

King wrote a response to Jay Holstein, a lawyer for the Pennsylvania board, on Dec. 12, stating the Alabama board was "most distasteful, inflammatory and inaccurate in many of the alleged facts within their order."

King also argued, as he has in other states where he once held licenses, that the Pennsylvania board cannot revoke his medical license because he had already voluntarily withdrawn his license there.

"Having not practiced medicine in the state of Pennsylvania since 1992, I decided to place the [Pennsylvania] license on an inactive status [in October 2008] and no longer have a valid license to practice medicine in your state....

"I am not quite sure how many bullets you wish to shoot into a dead man who is in bankruptcy, unemployed and unemployable at the current time," King stated in his Dec. 12 letter to Holstein.

The Pennsylvania board originally scheduled a formal hearing for King on Feb. 13, but postponed it to April 6 after King asked for an extension.

"I am also requesting another prosecuting attorney in this matter who can perceive a fresh look at this case and not have their personal agendas being displayed," King wrote in a Jan 23 letter to the Pennsylvania board.

The Alabama Board of Medical Examiners revoked King's license after Alabama residents filed two medical malpractice suits alleging King overdosed them with painkillers in October and November 2006.

Renee Blackman, one of those patients, alleged King overdosed her on Nov. 1, 2006 with injections of five different drugs, leaving her unconscious for 26 hours.

"King initially ignored his comatose patient," the Alabama board stated, after he had "administered an extremely large, unconventional and unnecessary dose of promethazine."

American Family Care, which owned the clinics in Trussville and Eastman, near Birmingham, where King was practicing, fired him a few days after he overdosed Blackman.

King has already lost medical licenses in seven states: Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

King's licenses have expired, without any formal action being taken, in New Jersey and Georgia.

King apparently still holds medical licenses in three states: New York, Tennessee and Florida.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently added King to its list of "excluded providers," which means he cannot bill Medicare or Medicaid for any care he provides to future patients.

King's current residence is unclear. When he filed for bankruptcy in Alabama on Nov. 21, 2007, King listed his residence as his mother's home in Birmingham. That bankruptcy case is still open.

The Hospital Corporation of America, which owned Putnam General when King was on its staff, has already paid about $100 million in medical malpractice settlements to settle 124 lawsuits filed by Kings' patients.

Reach Paul J. Nyden at pjny...@,wvgazette.com or 304-348-5164.