POULSBO — Kitsap County Superior Court Judge Sally Olsen will consider on Nov. 4 an embattled doctor’s request that a malpractice lawsuit against him be dismissed.
The state Medical Quality Assurance Commission stripped Narinder M. Duggal of his license after investigating claims of malpractice at his now-closed Liberty Bay Internal Medicine in Poulsbo. The commission determined Duggal had been negligent in his care, overprescribed medication and made sexual advances toward a patient.
Three of eight individuals who filed complaints with the state sued Duggal in Kitsap County Superior Court. Duggal denies all of the allegations and is suing in Thurston County Superior Court to get his license reinstated.
One of the lawsuits in Kitsap County was dismissed on June 19, 2015 after the plaintiff, who was representing herself, said four days before trial was to begin “that she will not be presenting evidence at the time the case is scheduled to be read … and is not prepared to go forward,” Superior Court Judge William Houser wrote in a document obtained from the Kitsap County Clerk’s online database.
A second lawsuit, alleging malpractice and sexual assault, was dropped on Oct. 14, 2015.
In the third lawsuit, a former patient alleges Duggal failed to “properly diagnose, treat, monitor and supervise” his care and treatment, and incorrectly prescribed medication. Trial is scheduled to begin on Jan. 10.
Pharmacist reprimanded Nicholas E. Wyatt, who worked for Duggal as Liberty Bay’s director of pharmacology, was reprimanded in February by the state Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission. The commission determined that from January 2009 to July 2010, Wyatt gave a patient being seen for severe insomnia a prescription for Ambien, even though Wyatt was not registered with the Drug Enforcement Agency to do so.
The commission also determined Wyatt prescribed the patient 10 times the recommended daily dose of Ambien “without expert consultation,” putting the patient at risk of “negative side effects including exhibiting aggressive behaviors and experiencing memory loss.”
The commission placed Wyatt’s license on probation for up to four years, and ordered him to complete a typewritten essay of at least 1,000 words “addressing the pharmacist’s duty” under the Washington Administrative Code “to ensure the safety of the patient’s behalf in either a clinical or institutional setting.”
Wyatt now works at Harrison Medical Center.
