Dr. Mark Midei, the Baltimore-based cardiologist who has been accused by his former employer, St. Joseph Medical Center, of allegedly implanting unnecessary stents in hundreds of patients, isn't taking those allegations sitting down. Midei on Thursday filed a lawsuit of his own, against the hospital for $60 million, claiming "irreparable damage" to his career due to "corporate deception, trickery and fraud" on the part of St. Joseph, the Baltimore Sun reports.
The lawsuit focuses on letters sent to his former patients by the hospital telling them that their stents may not have been necessary. Midei and lawyer Stephen L. Snyder question the hospital's evidence against the doctor because the hospital, when faced with lawsuits of its own from those patients, claimed that it did not have "definitive proof the stents were not needed," reports heartwire.
Midei told WJZ in Baltimore that he was "confident" in all of the decisions he has made as a care provider, adding that his patients were "treated appropriately and with the highest regard for their well-being."
Snyder added that he felt "compelled" to represent the much maligned doctor, according to The Daily Record, calling the allegations against his client "without merit."
Said Snyder, "I always felt from the time I met the doctor he was thrown under the bus."
St. Joseph released a statement saying that while it has yet to receive the lawsuit, it maintains its position. "Throughout the review of stent cases at SJMC and the patient notification process, SJMC has been guided by a belief that it had a moral and ethical responsibility to put patients' interests first," the statement reads. "These principals continue to guide St. Joseph Medical Center in all areas of quality and patient safety."
For more on the lawsuit:
- check out the Baltimore Sun article
- read this heartwire story
- here's the WJZ article
- read this TowsonPatch piece
- here's The Daily Record article