The women are Stephenson County residents: Maribeth Klaus, 54; Susanne Louah, 55; Sharon Humphrey, 66; Jamie Bakken, 39; Linda Smith, 65; Patti Cole, 61; and Rhonda Strohecker, 50.

It turns out that Klaus suffers from ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, according to the legal complaint filed in Stephenson County Circuit Court.

The women are asking for more than $50,000 each, said their attorney David Monteleone, who is with Rockford-based firm Fisk & Monteleone.

Dr. Khan gave his diagnoses while working at the FHN Memorial Hospital, which is part of the FHN Network, during 2011 and 2012. The lawsuit indicates that Dr. Khan "holds himself out as a neurologist though he is not board certified in any medical specialty."

The lawsuit details that his medical order to the women was that they give themselves daily injections of Copaxone and Betaseron, two drugs intended to reduce multiple sclerosis flare-ups. The women were paying about $5,000 a month for their daily injections, according to Monteleone.

"As you can imagine, it's an extremely serious diagnosis to be given," 

Monteleone said, speaking for the plaintiffs. "It would cause any reasonable person to become nervous and upset thinking that they have something that is largely incurable and progressive.

"They weren't getting any better. But looking at Dr. Khan's records, you would never know that."

Monteleone also is representing Robert Klaus, who is married to one of the plaintiffs, for loss of consortium, a legal term for the deprivation of the benefits of a family relationship.

"As a direct and proximate result of the negligence of defendant Khan, plaintiff Robert Klaus suffered loss of society, companionship, support, comfort, income, guidance, and services of his wife, plaintiff Maribeth Klaus, at all relevant times herein," the suit says, also requesting more than $50,000 for the husband.

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