Maryland doctor carried out unnecessary heart operations.

[woo me with science]

.

The last line of this story is particularly creepy.

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


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. This included a barbecue for 60 people in August 2008, for which it supplied a spread including a whole pig "slow smoked for 15 hours", Memphis-style ribs and peach cobbler.

Two days earlier, news had reached Abbot executives that Dr Midei had set a company record by implanting 30 stents in a single day, according to the Senate report.

Dr Midei was barred from working at St Joseph Medical Centre after a panel of experts found that the 585 implanted stents were "without clinical indication and probably medically unnecessary". 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.

[spanone]

1. 'prompting concerns that the practice of carrying out unnecessary procedures is widespread'

in a society where profit is king, this is a frightening story

[somone]

2. Texas doctor put more than 30 stents in one patient:

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/state-medical-board-accuses-well-known-cardiologist-of-1063549.html

The Texas Medical Board has accused a well-known Austin cardiologist of doing unnecessary heart procedures that it said risked the health of eight patients and caused one man to die after repeated shocks from a defibrillator that should not have been implanted.

Five patients have filed malpractice suits in Travis County against Dr. Samuel J. DeMaio, chairman of a group that is building Lakeway's first hospital. It's not clear whether the patients who filed suit are the same ones cited by the Medical Board, which doesn't disclose patient names, but details on at least one patient match.

The board's complaint alleges that DeMaio placed multiple stents — metal mesh tubes used to open clogged arteries — "in areas of insignificant or only moderate disease." It also alleges that he performed multiple angiograms — an X-ray exam of the blood vessels or heart — on patients who did not have symptoms, implanted an unneeded defibrillator in a second patient, failed to adequately inform several patients of other options and potential complications of stenting and failed to get consent from a patient for a certain stent.

The board alleges that DeMaio put more than 30 stents in one patient and more than 20 in the man who died.

[woo me with science]

4. Thanks for adding this.

Imagine the outrages that could be uncovered if we had any real muckrakers anymore.

[old mark]

3. But, hey, these guys are DOCTORS, and therefor can do no wrong...

why are they not in prison?


mark

[theoldman]

5. The only difference between this doctor and other doctors is that he got caught.

I do not know how many surgeons do unnecessary surgery. My guess is it is over 50%. I live in the DFW area where many surgeons make one to two million a year. They earn the money performing surgery, not from office visits.

[struggle4progress]

6. It's the Telegraph, a highly unreliable source. Here's a more detailed article

from the Baltimore Sun:

Federal report on stent procedures finds potential fraud
Investigators question whether doctor's relationship with stent maker encouraged unnecessary medical procedures
By Tricia Bishop, The Baltimore Sun
12:15 a.m. EST, December 6, 2010

... Midei lost his privileges to practice at St. Joseph after the hospital conducted its own investigation in mid-2009, and he has since resigned. The Physicians Board filed professional charges against him in June; an administrative hearing is scheduled for Dec. 14.

It's unlikely the hospital could have uncovered wrongdoing on its own, the Senate Finance Committee and others found. St. Joseph's internal "peer review" system allowed Midei, as the chairman of the cardiology department, to select cases for evaluation. The hospital has since revamped and randomized its self-policing programs.

After concerns were raised, St. Joseph hired reviewers to look at 1,878 of Midei's stent cases going back to 2007 and identified 585 cases where medical records did not appear to support implanted stents. The hospital limited the look back to two years because the risk of related complications drops after then, though lawyers and at least one physician have criticized the time-dependent analysis, saying anyone stented improperly at any time has a right to know ...

On a single Friday in late August — a few days before Abbott pitched in $1,200 for a barbecue at his home — Midei placed 30 Xience stents in patients, earning this congratulatory note from Abbott's executive vice president of medical devices ...

http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-md-senate-stent-report-20101205,0,7820770,full.story