The Maryland Board of Physicians has filed administrative charges against cardiologist Mark G. Midei, accused of putting hundreds of unneeded stents into patients' arteries and falsifying medical records. If found guilty of the charges, the Towson, Md., doctor could be fined and lose his license to practice medicine in the state.
The board's investigation--following complaints made more than a year ago that resulted in Midei losing his privileges at St. Joseph Medical Center last summer--included detailed reviews of five of Midei's cases. In each, Midei wrote in the patient's records that they suffered from an 80 percent blockage of a coronary artery, while a subsequent review of X-ray images showed less than 50 percent blockage--a level St. Joseph's rules consider to be "insignificant."
Midei explained the discrepancy by saying that he routinely used certain percentages--70, 80 and 90 percent--as shorthand to signify mild, moderate or significant blockage, adding that he also considered factors other than test results when recommending stent procedures. However, after reviewing his cases, Midei conceded that there were "significantly lower percentages of stenosis than he had initially dictated at the time of the procedure."
The board has charged Midei, who is also being investigated by a separate state committee and is a subject in at least two federal inquiries, with violating the Maryland Medical Practice Act through unprofessional conduct, false reports, overusing healthcare services, failing to maintain proper records and providing substandard quality of care.
"This is quite a unique case; it's an anomaly," Board Executive Director C. Irving Pinder Jr., told the Baltimore Sun. "These are all very serious accusations."
To learn more:
- read this Baltimore Sun article via the Washington Post
- see this piece on Delaware Online