Whistleblower files suit after being pressured to send PTSD wounded back

Wilm. doctor files whistleblower lawsuit over treatment of PTSD
WECT
Posted: Aug 23, 2012
By: Ashlea Kosikowski

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – A Wilmington doctor has filed a federal whistleblower lawsuit in U.S. District Court claiming he was wrongfully terminated when he reported to military officials that the contractors running the military hospital at Camp Lejeune mishandled cases of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).

In the suit, Dr. Kernan Manion also claims that the Deployment Health Center (DHC) where he worked didn't have safety protocols to protect those at the base from patients who were diagnosed as posing a violent threat to others.

The doctor said he was wrongfully terminated when he brought this to the attention of the Inspector General of the Department of Defense after his supervisors reportedly ignored his concerns.

Dr. Manion is a board certified psychiatrist. He currently has an office on Eastwood Road in Wilmington.

In 2009, Dr. Manion was hired by Spectrum Healthcare Resources and Nitelines Kuhana JV LLC, two healthcare contractors, to provide psychiatric treatment to members of the military who recently returned from combat duty. Many patients suffered from PTSD or TBI.

According to the suit, Dr. Manion believed that he was "under constant pressure from his superiors to rate patients as acceptable for deployment…even in circumstances where patients were diagnosed as posing a violent threat to themselves or others or were dangerous for combat deployment due to the presence of a significant mental illness."
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