CHARLESTON — A Kanawha County woman has sued a South Charleston dermatology practice, a physician assistant and a supervising dermatologist, alleging they failed to recognize signs of severe Crohn’s disease while treating her as a teenager.
Marisa S. Wesley filed her complaint August 12 in Kanawha Circuit Court against West Virginia Dermatology & Skin Surgery Center, physician assistant Katie Carpenter and Dr. David W. Judy.
Wesley, who received the treatment at issue while she was a minor, alleges the defendants continued clinic-level dermatology treatment despite persistent wounds, repeated treatment failures, anemia and other signs of a broader systemic illness.
According to the complaint, Wesley began treatment at the clinic in September 2023 at age 15 for cystic and nodular skin lesions. By November 2023, Carpenter had diagnosed her with Hurley Stage III hidradenitis suppurativa, described in the complaint as a severe disease involving inflammatory lesions, fistulas and draining sinus tracts across multiple areas of her body.
The complaint says Wesley’s condition remained severe and inadequately controlled during treatment from September 2023 through July 2025. She allegedly suffered recurrent abscesses, open wounds, draining lesions, scarring, emergency-department visits and worsening functional limitations.
Her mother reported in February 2024 that an extremely painful open wound had caused Wesley to miss school, require emergency care and need continued wound treatment, the complaint states.
Carpenter later prescribed Humira, which resulted in temporary improvement, but Wesley continued to experience abscesses, wounds and other symptoms, according to the complaint. By May 2025, Carpenter documented that Wesley had been taking Humira for about a year but was again experiencing flares and open sores.
The lawsuit alleges Carpenter then started Wesley on Cosentyx without first meaningfully investigating whether she had Crohn’s disease or another inflammatory bowel disease, or obtaining gastroenterology or multidisciplinary pediatric evaluation.
The complaint says Cosentyx prescribing information at the time warned of inflammatory bowel disease exacerbations, including serious exacerbations, and reported new-onset inflammatory bowel disease in some patients. The clinic’s records documented significant anemia and other laboratory abnormalities in May 2025, according to the complaint.
The clinic told Wesley’s mother that Wesley was anemic and should follow up with her primary-care provider while also advising that Cosentyx had been approved, the lawsuit states.
After Wesley received three Cosentyx injections, her mother reported worsening disease July 2, 2025, including an open wound that had persisted for more than a year, and requested a referral to a provider with experience treating severe disease, according to the complaint.
The clinic sent a referral to Nationwide Children’s Hospital on July 15, 2025, but did not arrange immediate gastrointestinal or emergency multidisciplinary evaluation, the complaint states. The clinic also documented shortly afterward that it would not continue Wesley’s biologic therapy.
Wesley was admitted to Nationwide Children’s Hospital on Aug. 15, 2025, where she was chronically ill and had extensive inflammatory and ulcerative disease, severe anemia, malnutrition and other evidence of systemic illness, according to the complaint.
A later gastrointestinal evaluation resulted in a diagnosis of severe Crohn’s disease, the lawsuit states. Wesley subsequently underwent prolonged hospitalization, multiple procedures and major colorectal surgery, including removal of her colon and rectum. She now has a permanent ileostomy and permanent loss of normal bowel function, according to the complaint.
Wesley alleges Carpenter failed to properly evaluate, diagnose, monitor, refer and treat her; did not adequately reconsider the hidradenitis diagnosis in light of repeated treatment failures and systemic warning signs; and initiated and continued Cosentyx without appropriate investigation or specialist input.
The complaint alleges Judy, as Carpenter’s supervising or collaborating physician, failed to provide meaningful oversight, intervene as Wesley’s disease worsened or require timely reassessment and specialist referral.
The practice is accused of vicarious liability for the alleged conduct of Carpenter and Judy.
Wesley seeks past and future medical expenses, lost income and earning capacity, damages for pain and suffering, emotional distress, scarring, disfigurement, permanent impairment, educational disruption and loss of enjoyment of life. She also seeks punitive damages, alleging the defendants acted with conscious, reckless and outrageous indifference to her health and safety.
Wesley is being represented by C. Edward Amos II and Brian R. Bowen of Segal & Amos in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Stephanie Abraham.
Kanaha Circuit Court case number 26-C-967
