Maryland Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson is facing lawsuits and two federal investigations related to its cardiac care division has just informed 169 more heart patients received costly and dangerous treatments that were not needed.
These additional cases bring the total to 538 patients notified by St. Joseph's that coronary stent implants they received at the hospital may have been unnecessary. Officials at the Hospital also said more questionable procedures may be uncovered while an internal review continues.
The St. Joseph's announcement is the latest debacle in an issue that has spawned a class action lawsuit, required the removal of a prominent physician and interested the U.S. Senate. It could also result in a multi-million dollar fine for the hospital per court records.
The hospital began investigating its heart catheterization procedures after several warnings last year from federal investigators and quickly focused on stents implanted by a leading cardiologist and senior physician, Dr. Mark Midei.
Stents, which are mesh tubes placed into damaged arteries to open them up are generally implanted in patients with at least a 70% blockage. But hospital officials in their review discovered stents implanted by Dr. Midei had insufficient blockage. And that the amount of blockage was overstated in the medical reports.
"Leaders of (St. Joseph) felt it was their ethical responsibility to notify these patients to allow them to determine if medical follow-up was appropriate." The hospital said in a statement. They reiterated that Midei (who is no longer at the hospital) is the only doctor under investigation.
In 2008 Midei was recruited to lead the cardiac catheterization department at St. Josephs from his former employer MidAtlantic Cardiovascular Associates of suburban Baltimore.
Last month the U.S. Senate Finance Committee requested St. Joseph to turn over all the records of its financial relationship with stent manufactures and how the $10,000 procedures were billed to federal and private insurers.
"In addition to putting the patients lives at risk unnecessary medical procedures amount to wasteful spending of precious federal health care dollars." Said the U.S. Senate in a letter to the hospital.
If you or a loved one is the victim of a medical mistake please call my office at 1 (800) 320-0080.

In December 2004, a man was severely injured when the tire of his car got caught on a six-inch lip on the roadside and he lost control crashing into a guardrail that impaled the vehicle. The man was left with a amputated left leg and an almost severed left arm. He sued the county that was responsible for maintaining the road, and won a verdict of $31 million.

Days after the verdict, the county's insurer sued the county claiming that it should not have to pay because the county's attorney did not properly prepare for trial or adequately update the insurance company. The county claims that the case was handled properly and that the insurance company only voiced its concerns after the verdict. Meanwhile, the man continues to have pain from the accident and cannot receive the medical treatment he needs until the judgement is paid.

If you or a loved one has suffered an injury please call my offices at 1(800) 320-0080.http://www.maryland-attorney.us/lawyer-attorney-1112627.html