Maryland Unnecessary Stent Implant Procedures – Are You at Risk?
By injuheis on June 21, 2010
The Maryland Board of physicians, the regulatory board in charge of licensing doctors in Maryland, has accused a Towson cardiologist of performing hundreds of stent implant procedures in patients who may not have even needed them. According to The Washington Post, the cardiologist is suspected of violating several Maryland laws pertaining to the “gross overutilization of health care services” and “willfully making a false report or record in the practice of medicine”.
Not only are stent implants expensive, but they also present potential health risks, such as blood clots. In addition, they create negative long-term effects because the recipient is required to take blood-thinning medications for the rest of his or her life.
Hundreds of patients who received stent implants in Maryland were under the impression that they had significant coronary artery blockage and needed the stent implant in order to open up the blocked the artery. These patients trusted the opinion of the cardiologist, who ran a cardiac catheterization lab at St. Joseph Medical Center until just this last year. However, after detailed review of the cardiologists X-ray images, it appears that he repeatedly overestimated the level of narrowing, or “stenosis,” patients had in their arteries. For instance, several patients displayed less than 50 percent blockage when the cardiologist wrote in the patient’s records that they suffered an 80 percent blockage of a coronary artery.
Once a stent is implanted in a patient, it can never be removed. With this in mind, individuals with stent implants who may not really need them may now face unnecessary emotional, physical and financial challenges. The controversy surrounding the St. Joseph Hospital cardiologist has impacted hundreds of patients’ lives. The Maryland stent implant injury lawyers at The Law Offices of Steven H. Heisler have many years of experience successfully handling medical malpractice and personal injury cases. Contact Steven H. Heisler, “The Injury Lawyer,” today for a free consultation of your potential stent implant injury case.
