CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — Adena Health System sparked confusion this week by inaccurately claiming victory in a substantial lawsuit against surgeons Dr. Brian Cohen, Dr. Aaron Roberts, Dr. Wilbur Sever, III, and Dr. James Thompson, among others. A court ruling delivered a decision on a minor part of the case, but Adena’s announcements misled many into believing they won the entire lawsuit.
The messy legal battle started when Adena accused the surgeons of breaching employment contracts and misusing confidential information before leaving the organization a few years ago. The surgeons countersued, alleging Adena violated antitrust laws and retaliated against their criticism of administrative practices, among other accusations. This legal entanglement has amassed over 650 docket entries and an estimated $12 million in legal fees over the past two years.
Earlier this month, a ruling directed the accused doctors to pay a portion of Adena’s legal fees concerning one claim in the countersuit, an aspect now widely misrepresented by Adena as a wholesale victory.
The misleading statement
Adena released a statement on social media and their website, disseminating it further to nearly 5,000 employees, under the headline “Adena Health Awarded Sanctions in Court Ruling.” The statement claims the Ross County Court of Common Pleas sanctioned the surgeons for malicious prosecution and frivolous conduct regarding antitrust claims, awarding Adena $87,329.25.
The misrepresentation prompted the Chillicothe Gazette to run a headline, “Cohen, former Adena doctors lose suit against Adena Health System,” causing further misinterpretations regarding the case’s status.
Lawyers for the surgeons issued a cease and desist letter to the Gazette, clarifying that no final adjudication has occurred. The letter detailed, “The Doctors have not lost the lawsuit. On the contrary, the parties are awaiting a new trial date at which a jury will decide whether Adena’s claims against the Doctors have merit.”
Cohen’s lawyers issued a statement expressing disappointment in Adena’s misleading narrative. “We were disappointed by Adena’s false and defamatory press release regarding a recent ruling by the Ross County Court of Common Pleas in the ongoing lawsuit,” the statement read. It went on to explain that the only monetary judgment awarded was a fraction of what Adena sought and emphasized that none of the doctors’ claims were found to lack merit.
Further, it criticized Adena’s decision to continue its assault on the doctors’ reputations based on false information rather than embracing the doctors’ “efforts to offer patients a greater choice of orthopedic care in Southern Ohio.”
Cohen’s lawyers said that the legal battle is far from over, with many claims awaiting judgment. The trial, initially set for last month but delayed, is now expected to resume early next year.
A lawyer for Adena was contacted for a comment for this story but did not immediately respond.
Recently, the case saw a significant setback for Adena when the court deemed the testimony of their key expert witness, Dr. John Schneider, a nationally recognized healthcare economist, as inadmissible. The court ruled that Schneider’s proposed methodology for calculating damages, revolving around construction costs of the Adena Orthopedic and Spine Institute (AOSI), failed to pass the “Daubert” test, which assesses the admissibility of expert testimony. Schneider had argued that Dr. Cohen’s influence led to these costs, a claim the court rejected since the decision to construct the AOSI was made by Adena’s Board of Trustees and other consultants. With this ruling, the $35 million figure that Schneider proposed as losses to Adena has been discarded from the court proceedings, creating a steeper hill for Adena to climb in proving damages when trial starts, essentially suing the doctors for $0.
Despite the ongoing legal proceedings, the fallout from Adena’s misleading announcement already seems to be muddying the waters surrounding this complex legal feud, leading many to incorrect conclusions about its current status.