Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over St. Joseph Med. Ctr Unneeded Stents

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A class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of hundreds of patients who allegedly received unnecessary coronary stents by a doctor at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson, Maryland.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Baltimore, weeks after St. Joseph Medical Center sent letters to 369 patients notifying them that they may have undergone unnecessary heart surgery to implant coronary stents for clogged arteries that they did not need. All of the cases involve one physician, Dr. Mark Midei, who was named as a defendant together with St. Joseph Medical Center in the class-action suit.

Former St. Joseph stent patients have recently discovered that Dr. Midei told them that they had substantial artery blockages, when they may have only had minimal blockages that did not require stent placement. The discrepancies were discovered when St. Joseph called in other coronary experts to examine the patients’ catheterization films.

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Spinal-Cord-Stimulation-Lawsuit

Do You Know About…

Spinal Cord Stimulator lawsuits

Spinal cord stimulator lawsuits are being investigated for individuals who suffered unnecessary shocks, burns or other problems, often resulting in the need for additional surgery to remove the SCS.

Learn More
SEE IF YOU QUALIFY FOR COMPENSATION

The St. Joseph Medical Center class action suit seeks to force the hospital to pay for a review of patient records and to impose certain requirements on the hospital before they can perform stent procedures. However, many lawyers pursuing St. Joseph stent lawsuits indicate that individuals treated by Dr. Midei may be in a better position to investigate their claim and obtain more complete compensation for their damages by pursuing an individual claim.

The first individual lawsuit against St. Joseph over unneeded stents by Dr Midei was filed last week, alleging that the hospital knew the doctor was fraudulently or negligently telling patients that they needed the stent procedures that were not medically necessary and failed to take steps to stop it.

Cardiac catheterization procedures with stent placement, which cost about $10,000.00, are designed to keep open significantly blocked arteries. Typically it is only considered necessary for a stent to be implanted when an artery is at least 70% blocked, with anything under 50% considered “insignificant” and treatable without a stent. Some patients were exposed to the risks associated with stent placement by Dr. Midei when they had blockages as low as 10%.

Dr. Mark Midei headed up the cardiac catheterization unit at St. Joseph Medical Center in Baltimore County until he was stripped of his position and privileges at the hospital last summer amid a federal investigation involving cardiac stent procedures performed at the Towson, Maryland hospital.

Tags: Class Action, Dr. Mark Midei, Heart Surgery, Maryland, Medical Malpractice, St. Joseph Medical Center, Stent
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5 Comments

inge
i also was taken in by a Doctor with Kaiser Permanente,i was told at her office that i was having a heart attack and i was going to Sunnyside Hospital 20 miles away when they had a contrat with St Joseph in 2011, 3 miles down the road.after refusing to go that far away i was send to ST.Josephs and a Stent was put in my Heart the next day.66.000 later billed to medicare i found out just 7 month ago that the Symptons i was having was caused by Emphysema that the Doctor from Kaiser missed for many years and one of there Doctors told me that i had it for a long time. so much for 5 star rating,i could write a book , but there is no room on here
virginia
i am still the one that’s having chest pain & breathing problems, well it is getting worst. i have had all kinds of breathing tests & all have come back neg. it is getting to the point that some times i have to pull over & get myself together,or get my breathing uncontrol. if there is a dr. out there that can help me without stents please send me a email. i am on the website almost every day looking for help. i take plavix every day & it is hard to come up with the money, but some kind of way with the help of the lord i do.
Kenneth
I had one stent put in at St. Joseoh’s in November of 2005 and later told that I needed another one which was put in a year later. Now I don’t know if the first or second one was truly necessary. What can I do to find out about this and could it cause any further problems for me? I have since developed breathing issues, COPD, along with being tired a lot.
Kay
Well Jay, (Feb, 1st 2010) I beg to differ with your opinion. I had four stents placed by Dr. (and I use that term lightly) Midei, all but one of which were not needed. I also had a heart attack becuase of those stents. So is insurance supposed to absorb these costs. Stop and think, it’s $10,000 per stent and I had 4 placed (unnecessarily) that’s $40,000 that should never have to be paid out! Plus add in all the expenses from my heart attack. The unfortunate thing is fraudulent billings like that make everyone’s insurance go up. Do you want to pay more for your insurance because of ONE doctor (as you put it)? Now who’s the moron? If it was one or two cases I’d be more understanding. This affects a minimum of 369 patients. Figure it up. That’s a lot of money! Besides, if I made an error in judgement at my job, I not only would be fired, but I’d have to make up the $$ difference out of my pay. This doctor should be stripped of his license! And don’t tell me that St. Joe’s didn’t know what was going on. It’s called GREED! They wanted to be the “big heart hospital” and they didn’t care who they hurt along the way. SHAME ON THEM ALL!
Jay
So heres the deal folks. These ambulance chasing lawyer sites are looking to generate people to help fund their trips to Vietnam so they can have sex with 7 years old children if you ask me. Stop trying to harm an institution that has only had ONE doctor accused of anything. If you were feeling bad and you now feel good….chances are your stent was needed……morons. Selfish people here are the problem with America. Nobody in the labs at St. Joe’s would remain silent if they thought that something was being done that was not neccessary. These lawyers are trying to take jobs and positions of people who come to work everyday with a mind set of saving lives and improving quality of life. Stop digging!

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