Pain Clinic Operator Continues Fight With State Regulators Who Shut Him Down

Dr. Michael Kostenko lost his privileges to treat injured workers in West Virginia more than a decade ago, but the osteopath continues to battle state regulators. His latest weapon: a whistleblower lawsuit. A Raleigh County judge on Wednesday upheld a decision by the state Department of Health and Human Resources that Kostenko operated an illegal pain clinic and should pay $204,000 in fines. The West Virginia Board of Osteopathic Medicine yanked Kostenko’s medical license on June 15 after three patients overdosed on opioids while under his care. The cocktails that killed them included ...