CENTRAL OHIO Former prison doctor sues ex-boss in defamation suit

His boss made him a 'scapegoat' of the controversy, the doctor said.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- A former prison doctor criticized last year when a staph-infection outbreak killed an inmate is suing his former boss, alleging that the state official damaged his professional credibility.
Dr. Adil Yamour filed a $2.5 million defamation lawsuit against Dr. Bruce Martin, the chief medical director of Ohio's prisons in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on Thursday. The suit charges that Martin caused Yamour to lose his contract at the Pickaway Correctional Institution and slandered him.
Yamour was fired as a private contractor with Benarcourt Services Ltd. in February, after the state prison system told the contractor that Yamour could no longer work as medical director at the prison.
Ohio prison officials and Martin declined comment Thursday, citing the pending lawsuit.
State contract
Yamour's attorney, Herschel Sigall, said his client relied on the state contract for his livelihood.
"[Yamour] has a private practice, but it is very, very limited," he said.
Sigall said Yamour, 66, of Mount Sterling, did not sue the state but could still do so.
Last year, several inmates became ill with staph infections that were eventually linked to shared tattoo needles.
One of the inmates, Sean Schwam-berger, 19, of Toledo, died of a massive infection connected to the outbreak. A lawsuit filed by Schwam-berger's family was dismissed.
Yamour's five-page complaint filed Thursday accuses Martin of making Yamour a "scapegoat" of the controversy.
Martin criticized Yamour for lancing and draining lesions on the infected inmates, creating open sores that could worsen and spread infection. Yamour said lancing the sores was medically necessary.