KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The number of lawsuits accusing a former physician assistant at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Kansas of sexual abuse has grown to at least five.
Josh Hutchison, 38, who lives in the Kansas City area, said in a federal lawsuit filed this week that Mark Wisner conducted unnecessary and improper genital examinations at the Leavenworth VA Medical Center. The Associated Press generally does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted, but Hutchison said he wanted his name used because he believes it will help other soldiers.
“A lot of these guys don’t want to come forward because they feel embarrassed and emasculated,” Hutchison said Friday. “By somebody taking a lead and stepping forward, I feel like it will help a lot of other soldiers.”
The hospital, which is accused of failing to properly supervise Wisner, said in a written statement that it has barred Wisner from seeing patients and that it started investigating after learning of the allegations.
Wisner also faces criminal charges of aggravated criminal sodomy, solicitation and sexual battery in Leavenworth County. Wisner surrendered his medical license last year after at least seven patients accused him of abuse, and medical regulators said at the time that others could come forward.
Debra Snider, his criminal defense attorney, said she couldn’t comment because she’s not representing him in the civil cases, and no attorney is listed for him in online court records for Hutchison’s lawsuit. Wisner didn’t return a phone message left at his Holton home.