PORT ORCHARD — Kitsap County Superior Court Commissioner Thurman W. Lowans dismissed an anti-harassment protection order against a former Poulsbo physician July 17.

A woman who had sued Dr. Narinder Duggal for alleged medical malpractice claimed he made harassing remarks to her in the courthouse hallway June 19 after her lawsuit was dismissed. Judge Sally F. Olsen granted her request for a protection order and scheduled the July 17 hearing to consider whether it should be extended.

The woman said she told Duggal after her case was dismissed, “The truth will come out,” and that Duggal “replied to the effect of, ‘You need to watch your back. I’m coming after you and your family,’” before his lawyer directed him to the courthouse exit.

In a declaration filed with the court on June 30, Duggal claimed that after the hearing the plaintiff “started yelling at me with a derogatory tone about how I ran my practice and what kind of physician I am.” He added, “I have never threatened her or her family nor did I confront her or interact with her.”

Duggal’s attorney, Thomas Olmstead of Poulsbo, submitted a similar account.

Lowans said, “It’s difficult to discern these were a series of events” — a threshold necessary to prove unlawful harassment.

The woman asked for a continuance so she could provide a CD copy of courthouse surveillance video, which captured the alleged confrontation. Lowans denied the request.

A Port Orchard police officer reviewed the video and wrote in a report:

“Two [men] are observed in the hallway near room 269. One is on a cellular telephone. [The woman] exits room 269 and walks east, toward the camera. As she passes the two men, they fall in behind her.

“As [she] nears the camera she turns to her left and says something as she passes out of view of the camera. The [man] without the phone is looking at [her] and is clearly talking as both men pass out of view of the camera.

“[She] enters the view of the next camera, now walking north toward the front of the building. She stops and says something to the male without the phone. The male is looking at [her]. He appears intense in his posture and facial expression. The male briefly slows then continues north, passing [her]. The male on the cell phone also passes [her] and continues walking as well. The male with the cell phone is now between [her] and the first male and all three are walking north.

“There is no waving of arms or obvious signs of anger or yelling. [She] appears to be looking in the direction of the two men. [She] is behind the two men until they get to the top of the stairs near the District Court Clerk’s Office. I couldn’t tell if they were speaking or not. The men go down the stairs toward the front doors. [She] abruptly turns near the top of the stairs and returns to room 269.”

The woman is one of eight former patients whose complaints to the state Medical Quality Assurance Commission led to Duggal losing his license. Their allegations were investigated by an assistant state attorney general and the state Department of Health. The commission found that Duggal had conducted himself in an unprofessional manner, made sexual advances toward patients, and overprescribed or misprescribed medications.

After the state Medical Quality Assurance Commission’s findings, Duggal voluntarily surrendered his license.

Olmstead said at the time that Duggal had seen “thousands of patients” in his 15 years of practice in Kitsap County. “Out of them, eight complained.” Olmstead said Duggal brought forth hundreds of supportive letters from patients, but “the judge eliminated the positive letters to only four.”

Three of the eight complainants filed lawsuits against Duggal and Nicholas Wyatt, who was Duggal’s pharmacist at Liberty Bay Internal Medicine.

In a phone call to the Herald on July 17, Duggal said he intended to “fight every one of these cases.” He said his accusers are “liars.”

Here’s where the cases stand:

— Lawsuit dismissed “with prejudice”: On June 19, Superior Court Judge William Houser dismissed a plaintiff’s malpractice lawsuit against Duggal and Wyatt after she stated “in open court that she will not be presenting evidence at the time the case is scheduled to be read … and is not prepared to go forward,” Houser wrote in a document obtained from the Kitsap County Clerk’s online database. Trial was scheduled to begin June 23.

“With prejudice” means the case is dismissed permanently.

The plaintiff, who had been represented by a lawyer, represented herself at the pre-trial hearing. The alleged confrontation that led to the protection order occurred after this dismissal.

This case was filed March 28, 2013. The plaintiff had alleged the care and treatment she received for drug dependency was negligent. Among the allegations: That Duggal failed to “properly diagnose, treat, monitor and supervise” her care and treatment, and incorrectly prescribed medication.

The court had earlier denied Duggal’s request that the case be dismissed.

On Feb. 4, 2014, Duggal asked that the agreed order be withdrawn. The next day, the commission denied his request and approved the agreed order.

Duggal contends the commission denied him due process in not granting him an administrative hearing on his request to withdraw the agreed order.

— Alleged malpractice, sexual assault: Trial is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Oct. 20 in Olsen’s courtroom in a lawsuit brought by a former patient and her husband. Wyatt is also a defendant.

This case was filed Dec. 17, 2012. The former patient alleges the care and treatment she received for pain management was negligent, and also that Duggal sent her sexually graphic text messages and, during one appointment, “assaulted and groped” her. Duggal denies these allegations and the allegations in the other cases.

This case was filed Sept. 22, 2011 in King County Superior Court, with a change of venue to Kitsap County Superior Court on Nov. 2, 2011.