Personal Injury Law

Sanctions For Hospital That Conducted Unnecessary Heart Stent Procedures

By Steven M. Levin and John J. Perconti

The St. Joseph Medical Center made headlines earlier this year when it was discovered that one of its high-profile doctors was committing medical fraud by repeatedly telling patients they needed stents implanted in their heart, even though they didn?t.

Now federal investigators are ordering the hospital to take steps to ensure future mistakes are not repeated. The Baltimore Sun reports that the facility must now conduct annual, random audits of its cardiac care practices. They must also keep a database of business arrangements related to certain procedures, provide annual reports to regulators, and maintain supervision of physicians and the cardiac laboratory.

The facility has already agreed to a $22 million settlement to repay federal funds used in the unnecessary procedures.

The man at the center of the scandal, Dr. Mark Midei worked for several years in his own medical center connected to the hospital. Eventually he left his own practice to work full-time for St. Joseph, taking a high profile seven figure salary. The employment lasted until 2009, when accusations about Midei?s falsification of records led the hospital to contact hundreds of its former patients and warn them of the possible error.

Full post as published by Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog on January 06, 2011 (boomark / email).