Personal Injury Law

Claims Filed Following Medical Fraud By Heart Doctor

By Steven M. Levin and John J. Perconti

In August on this blog we discussed the egregious case of medical fraud and abuse of Dr. Mark G. Midei. The doctor, a former star cardiologist at the St. Joseph Medical Center, was found to have performed hundreds of heart procedures unnecessarily. Medical records were falsified to make it appear that patients had clogged arteries when they did not.

The Baltimore Sun reports that this week saw the filing of over 100 claims in the arbitration hearings with St. Joseph Medical Center stemming from the situation. The victims are claiming that the hospital is responsible for the conspiracy, negligence, and fraud perpetrated by their medical staff. Many involved in the case of Dr. Midei believe that this problem is common at other hospitals throughout the country?investigations at several other facilities are already underway. Another doctor in Louisiana did the same thing just last year, earning him 10 years in federal prison.

The situation is most ripe for abuse with stent replacements. As in this case, doctors can often insert these mesh stents into the healthy veins of unknowing, trusting patients. The patients are then exposed to the risks of the procedure itself, the necessity to take expensive medication with dangerous side-effects, and the emotional anguish that always comes with these health issues.

Our Chicago medical malpractice lawyers at Levin & Perconti remain as appalled as the rest of society about these cases of deception and medical fraud. It is a tragic reality that some in the medical profession continue to place so little value in the health and well-being of the patients that seek their help and counsel. There is no excuse for allowing hundreds of innocent victims and their families undergo the hardship and risk of heart procedures unnecessarily. If you or anyone you know may have suffered any problematic medical care, please contact a medical malpractice attorney immediately.

Please Click Here to read more about this and similar case of medical abuse.

Full post as published by Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog on October 06, 2010 (boomark / email).