A psychiatrist, physician and longtime addiction-treatment professional are defendants in a wrongful death lawsuit over the suicide of Scott E. Henry, chairman of the Martz Group bus company in Wilkes-Barre.
Henry killed himself with a gunshot to the head in December 2018, according to the suit filed Friday by Henry’s widow, Maryjane Henry of Shavertown, and her attorney, Mark W. Tanner of Philadelphia. The suit alleges negligence, recklessness and carelessness.
The defendants are Nicholas F. Colangelo, an addiction-treatment professional from Shavertown; Albert D. Janerich, a Plains Twp. physician; and Moosic psychiatrist Matthew A. Berger.
Henry was 60 when he was found dead Dec. 13, 2018, in his home with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the lawsuit said. He had “a medical history that was significant for drug and alcohol addiction, depression, anxiety, mood disorder, and impulse control problems” and met Colangelo participating in Alcoholics Anonymous, the suit said.
He had been sober for more than 18 years and started having thoughts of suicide in October 2018. The suit alleges Colangelo provided “illegal and unqualified mental health therapy and treatment” to Henry.
Janerich began providing medical treatment to Henry on Oct. 27, 2018, and the suit alleges “the medical treatment was outside the scope of his area of expertise (physiatry and addiction medicine).”
Berger evaluated Henry on Dec. 10, 2018, and diagnosed him with “generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder and prescribed new medications, Pamelor and Seroquel,” the suit said.
Henry called Berger’s office Dec. 12, 2018, “to report his medications were not working,” and the phone call was not returned by Berger or anyone in his office, the suit said.
Berger “knew, or should have known, that there was a significant likelihood that Scott Henry would commit suicide without timely and appropriate psychiatric interventions and treatment,” the suit claimed.
Colangelo, Berger and Janerich did not return messages seeking comment Saturday.
Maryjane Henry is seeking compensatory damages in excess of $50,000, for each of two counts in the civil complaint filed in Luzerne County.
Scott Henry took over as chairman of the Martz Group in March 2015 when his father, Frank, retired. At the time, he said it was his dream job.
His father, who remained a company board member, died in June 2018 at age 85. Outside of the family business, Scott Henry served on various boards, including the Wilkes-Barre YMCA and the Luzerne Foundation, where the family established a fund to benefit various causes throughout Northeast Pennsylvania.
Contact the writer:
mbuffer@citizensvoice.com;
570-821-2073;
@cvmikebuffer on Twitter