Widow settles malpractice suit for $85,000
CANTON — The widow of a Gouverneur man who died in 2004 of a methadone overdose has settled for $85,000 a medical malpractice lawsuit against the doctor who prescribed the drug.
The lawsuit filed in March 2006 by Shannon Streeter, on behalf of Shawn G. Streeter, sought unspecified damages against Dr. Gail E. DeHart of Gouverneur. Dr. DeHart surrendered her medical license in February 2006 after being convicted in St. Lawrence County Court of selling prescriptions for narcotic drugs.
State Supreme Court Judge David R. Demarest approved the settlement offer last month, St. Lawrence County clerk records show. Mrs. Streeter will receive $53,609.39 through her husband's estate. Syracuse attorney Robert E. Lahm will receive $31,390.61 for fees and legal costs.
Mr. Streeter was treated by Dr. DeHart for chronic pain from May 16, 2002, until his April 12, 2004, death at age 35, the lawsuit alleged. Throughout his treatment she prescribed narcotics, including OxyContin and morphine, even though he showed symptoms of drug abuse.
Hospitalized in 2003 for drug intoxication, Mr. Streeter continued to receive prescriptions for large quantities of narcotics from Dr. DeHart, who failed to refer him to a psychiatrist, rehabilitation facility, anesthesiologist or other specialist in the treatment of drug addictions, according to the lawsuit.
Mr. Streeter was admitted to Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center, Ogdensburg, for treatment of opiate dependency and withdrawal on March 26, 2004. Although he was the patient of another doctor and still in the center's rehabilitation unit, Dr. DeHart wrote him prescriptions for narcotics, according to court papers. They included 120 Vicodin tablets, 60 Xanax tablets, 120 OxyContin tablets, 30 Risperdal tablets and 270 methadone tablets.
Mr. Streeter was discharged from the hospital on April 6, 2004, and died six days later at his home. Toxicology reports from an autopsy confirmed he died of a methadone overdose.
The lawsuit alleged that Dr. DeHart, then a family physician, lacked the skill and knowledge to treat Mr. Streeter's chronic pain. It also alleged "she was an habitual abuser of narcotics and practiced medicine while impaired."
Dr. DeHart was one of three physicians who surrendered their medical licenses after an investigation into the trafficking of prescription narcotics in St. Lawrence County. The others were Dr. James L. Latimer, Madrid, and Dr. Charles J. Locke, Gouverneur.
Dr. DeHart pleaded guilty in December 2005 in County Court to attempted criminal sale of a prescription for a narcotic. She admitted prescribing methadone, a synthetic narcotic often used in the treatment of heroin addiction, to her daughter, Anastassia I. DeHart, four times between May and Sept. 14, 2004. She was sentenced in February 2006 to five years' probation in a plea agreement that required her to surrender her medical license.
When she gave up her license, she was under investigation by the state Board of Professional Conduct for her actions in several cases from 1994 to 2004. In her request to surrender her license, she admitted providing excessive narcotics in two other cases.
