Local doctor’s practices questioned in Missouri lawsuit

The practice of a cancer physician who used to work in Missouri and now works for a clinic in Newton and Great Bend has been called into question in a Missouri lawsuit.

The lawsuit is a wrongful termination case from a whistleblower who claims she was dismissed from Mercy Clinic in Springfield, Mo., for telling the administration about her concerns about two doctors, including Greg Nanney. The lawsuit alleges that Nanney was discharged from the clinic in July 2012 because of “substandard care to patients, and jeopardizing their safety.”

Nanney, a medical oncologist, worked in Hutchinson and rural areas across Kansas for a number of years before being hired by Mercy Clinic, formerly called St. John’s Clinic, in Springfield, Mo., in fall 2010.

Now, he works for the Central Care Cancer Center in Newton, Great Bend, and Bolivar, Mo., according to Central Care’s website.

Mercy Clinic is the only named defendant in the lawsuit. The lawsuit against the clinic was filed by Hyewon “Helen” Kim, a radiation oncologist who was medical director at Mercy Clinic. Kim’s lawyer said they could not publicly comment on the case.

Nanney and Mercy officials did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

However, in Mercy’s response to the lawsuit, it denied all allegations.

Kim’s lawyer has requested a partial summary judgment for the wrongful termination case, and a trial by jury is scheduled for March 2015 in Springfield.

Prior to working in Missouri, Nanney worked in Hutchinson, including at the Hutchinson Clinic.

Nanney graduated from the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine and completed a residency and fellowship at the University of Oklahoma, according to Central Care’s website.

Court records in Kansas and Missouri do not show any medical malpractice lawsuits against Nanney.

The lawsuit says that in 2011, Kim observed several violations of medical standards that affected patient safety by Nanney and radiation oncologist Steven Braun, another former Hutchinson doctor, including concurrent chemoradiation therapy, “which resulted in financial gain” for the clinic. Braun is still employed by Mercy.

The alleged instances cited in the lawsuit include:

▪ A breast cancer patient who received radiation and chemotherapy provided by Nanney and Braun at the same time, which resulted in severe side effects, including a “severe radiation burn to the chest well, requiring more than two weeks of treatment interruption.”

▪ A lymphoma patient who received chemotherapy and radiation at the same time from both doctors when chemotherapy alone is the standard treatment regimen, which “caused the patient to have less chance of a cure, have difficulty tolerating chemotherapy because of bone marrow compromise from the unnecessary irradiation to a large volume of pelvic bone marrow, and become susceptible to systemic infection and/or bleeding.”

▪ Concurrent chemoradiation from both doctors that caused a life-threatening event to a patient with brain metastasis who had to stay in the hospital for the final months of life. “He should have been treated with radiation therapy alone, and the treatment course should be short, such as two to three weeks, rather than seven to eight weeks,” the lawsuit claims.

This story was originally published December 6, 2014 at 4:53 PM with the headline "Local doctor’s practices questioned in Missouri lawsuit."