The lawyers at Goldberg Finnegan, LLC are investigating potential lawsuits relating to individuals who received a heart stent at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Towson, Maryland.

Many of the patients who received heart stents at St. Joseph’s Hospital may not have actually needed them.

Starting in December, 2009 a number of patients received letters about their cardiac catheterization procedures in which they received heart stents. The biggest concern is over surgeries performed by Dr. Mark Midei. The letters sent to patients reportedly indicate that post-surgical clinical review procedures revealed that the results of the catheter tests were in fact different than indicated on the original heart catheterization report.

Some of these patients may have received unnecessary stents in their heart valves, and thus have been subjected to substantial health risks. The doctor who is believed to have performed the unnecessary procedures is Dr. Mark Midei. He was a prominent heart surgeon who has recently stopped practicing medicine and has lost his privileges at St. Joseph’s hospital.

What transpired is that some patients were told that they had blockage of 80-95% when in fact they only had a very small amount of blockage-even as low as 10%. Medical Guidelines reveal that in order for a stent procedure to be necessary, there should be blockage of at least 70%. Once a stent procedure is performed on a cardiac patient, patients face long term risks including the risk of blood clots in the stent (which can cause a heart attack), and/or other life threatening injuries. To reduce the risk of clotting in stent patients, many are prescribed a blood thinner such as Plavix (expensive-and has its own risks/side effects).

Our legal team believes that anyone who had an unnecessary cardiac stent procedure performed at St. Josephs has potential legal claims against Dr. Midei, St. Josephs, and possibly others. Claims would include medical negligence, battery, violation of Maryland’s Consumer Protection Act, and possibly even fraud. Whereas punitive damages are not available in most negligence cases in Maryland, because the cases involving unnecessary stent procedures at St. Josephs involved intentional conduct and was possibly even deceptive and deceitful, it is quite possible that punitive damages will be available as well.

In December 2005 a Baltimore Jury returned a $5 Million dollar verdict against Dr. Mark G. Midei and Midatlantic Cardiovascular Association. The jury found that the doctor improperly steered a patient to a surgeon employed by the practice rather than to his own surgeon who belonged to a rival group. After the verdict, it is reported that Dr. Midei said “I’ve done close to 30,000 procedures on patients and have never been sued until now.”

If you or someone you love had a cardiac stent procedure performed at St. Joseph’s Hospital and/or done by Dr. Midei, contact a Silver Spring personal injury lawyer Goldberg Finnegan by calling (888) 213-8140 so that we can evaluate your claim.