US doctor "carried out unnecessary heart ops"

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Telegraph

US doctor "carried out unnecessary heart ops"

An American doctor carried out hundreds of potentially unnecessary heart operations using equipment made by a company that lavished him with perks including a whole slow-smoked pig for a barbecue at his house.

By Jon Swaine, New York 7:44PM GMT 06 Dec 2010

Dr Mark Midei, a cardiologist in Baltimore, Maryland, may have implanted up to 585 stents – tubes used to widen coronary arteries – into the hearts of patients who didn't need them, a Senate inquiry has found.

The procedures, which were carried out between 2007 and 2009, cost American taxpayers $3.8 million (£2.4 million) through the Medicare scheme, which funds health care for the elderly.

Several patients who may have received an unnecessary stent have experienced medical complications and one required surgery, the inquiry, by the Senate finance committee, found.

Dr Midei usually used stents made by Abbot Laboratories, a multi-billion dollar Chicago firm which later paid him tens of thousands of dollars as a consultant and which funded at least $1,925 (£1,227) of social functions at his home.



Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8184736/US-doctor-carried-out-unnecessary-heart-ops.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Md. health insurers billed $2.6M for Midei stent procedures

Md. health insurers billed $2.6M for Midei stent procedures
Baltimore Business Journal - by Scott Graham
Date: Monday, December 6, 2010, 2:55pm EST

Health insurance companies doing business in Maryland paid more than $2.6 million to St. Joseph Medical Center in claims linked to the questionable use of coronary stents by Dr. Mark G. Midei to treat nearly 600 cardiac patients at the Towson hospital.

More than half of that amount — or about $1.5 million — was billed to CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, according to a U.S. Senate Finance Committee report released Monday.

The report, which chronicled Midei’s business relationship with Abbott Laboratories, a global manufacturer of the flexible mesh tube used to unclog arteries, said St. Joseph billed public and private insurers almost $7.2 million for unnecessary stent implants performed by Midei on 585 patients. More than $6.6 million was collected.

The hospital sent letters to those cardiac patients late last year and earlier this year, notifying them that they may had been improperly treated by Midei, a Johns Hopkins-trained cardiologist who ran St. Joseph’s cardiac catheterization laboratory until the hospital asked him to resign in May 2009.

More:
http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2010/12/06/md-health-insurers-billed-26m-for.html

[RKP5637]

2. Hope this dr. hangs! n/t

[jaxx]

3. I wish they'd have defined unnecessary.

Were the stents put into healthy or partially closed arteries? :shrug:

[Judi Lynn]

4. Medicare paid millions for unneeded stents, Senate finds

Medicare paid millions for unneeded stents, Senate finds
Stent maker gave doc accused of implanting the unnecessary devices a crab feast
updated 2 hours 7 minutes ago 2010-12-06T21:04:44

WASHINGTON — A Senate investigation found that Medicare spent millions of dollars for stents implanted by a Maryland doctor accused of putting them in patients who didn't need them, according to a report released Monday.

The investigation also found that the doctor was treated to an elaborate crab feast and barbecue by Abbott Labs, the maker of the stents. The stents are tiny, metal-mesh tubes used to keep unclogged arteries open.

The report released by the Senate Finance Committee said Dr. Mark Midei's questionable implantations cost the Medicare program $3.8 million between 2007 and 2009. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the committee's chairman, said the case could be a sign of a larger national trend of wasteful medical device use.

"Doctors should not be performing invasive medical procedures patients don't need, and taxpayers certainly shouldn't be paying for these wasteful and improper implantations," Baucus said.

More:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40534163/ns/health-health_care/

[valerief]

5. And this is surprising how? This country only goes after air travelers and pot smokers. nt

[woo me with science]

6. But here is the most disturbing part of this story:

"Following reports on his activities, the number of coronary stent procedures fell across Baltimore, prompting concerns that the practice of carrying out unnecessary procedures is widespread."

[Richard D]

7. I'm reminded that when . . .

. . . there are hospital closing strikes, the death rate goes way down.