"X"
Three medical institutions in Texas in the USA agreed to pay a record $15 million record settlement after they claimed insurance while performing two surgeries at the same time.
The settlement follows allegations that three senior surgeons, while training residents, performed complicated heart surgeries, leaving junior doctors to perform critical procedures while they attended to other surgeries.
According to a whistleblower, who will also be compensated for an amount of $3 million, the doctors billed for the concurrent surgeries between June 3, 2013, to Dec. 21, 2020.
The US Attorney's Office of the Southern State says their investigation into the Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center (BSLMC), Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and Surgical Associates of Texas P.A. (SAT) in Houston, began in August of 2019, shortly after a whistleblower filed a complaint.
The three surgeons implicated in the alleged offences include 71-year-old Dr Joseph Coselli from Houston, 63-year-old Dr Joseph Lamelas from Miami and 77-year-old Dr Davit Ott from Houston, all affiliated with BSLMC which is a joint venture between various medical institutions to act as teaching hospitals.
I am deeply honored to have had the privilege and opportunity to work alongside Dr. E. Stanley Crawford, the legendary aortic surgeon. @BCM_Surgery @BCM_Thoracic https://t.co/S5GNFw9JK2 pic.twitter.com/iQW1pvTtkh
— Joseph Coselli, MD (@JCoselli_MD) March 4, 2021
According to the whistleblower, the three heart surgeons would run two operating rooms at once, delegating key aspects of extremely complicated and risky heart surgeries to unqualified medical residents.
These include coronary artery bypass grafts, valve repairs and other procedures where patients' chests would be opened.
Additionally, the surgeons would enter a second or occasionally a third operation without designating a backup surgeon.
The surgeons allegedly hid these activities by falsely attesting on medical records they were physically present for the entire operation while, medical staff did not inform patients that surgeons would be leaving the room to perform another operation.
U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani said patients entrusted these surgeons with their lives, submitting to operations where one missed cut is the difference between life and death.
"Allegedly, the patients were unaware their doctor was leaving for another operating room. This settlement reaffirms the importance of Medicare requirements governing surgeon presence and ensuring that no physician, no matter how prominent or successful, can skirt around the rules," he added.
Special Agent in Charge Jason E. Meadows of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) said the complete disregard for patient safety exhibited by these three doctors put patients at risk and violated Medicare regulations for their own convenience and greed.
The $15 million recovery is the largest settlement to date involving concurrent surgeries.
The False Claims Act entitles the private whistleblower who commences the suit to a portion of the recovery. In this case, the whistleblower will receive $3,075,000.
