Local Hospitals Alleged To Have Performed Cardiac Procedures in Patients Who Did Not Need Them

Have You or a Loved One Received Cardiac Work in Florida?

If you or a loved one received cardiac work in Florida, you should be aware that a breaking news article has reported that some local facilities owned by hospital giant HCA performed cardiac procedures in patients who did not need them as a way to increase profits. The New York Times is reporting that several cardiologists at these facilities could not justify many of the cardiac catheterizations and stent placements they performed between 2002 and 2010 – but performed these procedures nonetheless.  Lawnwood Regional Medical Center, Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point and Cedars Medical Center, which HCA no longer owns, are among the hospitals which reportedly engaged in these practices, according to the Times. The article also stated that Kendall Regional Medical Center and Palms West Hospital administered “questionable treatment” in patients without heart disease, according to an HCA review examined by the Times.

Cardiac catheterization and stent procedures cost between $10,000 and $15,000 and contribute significantly to hospital revenue. In 2006, HCA was taken private by a handful of private equity firms, who by 2010, were looking to cash out of their investment, the Times reports. As the hospital chain readied itself for an initial public offering (IPO), it reportedly borrowed to pay these firms more than $4 billion in dividends. HCA’s ability to make these financial moves reportedly hinged on its ability to continue to make significant monetary gains at its hospitals. According to the New York Times, the company “turned, in part, to cardiac care.”  The article calls HCA’s cardiology practice a “lucrative business,” naming Lawnwood Regional Medical Center’s cardiac catheterization lab a “financial juggernaut”; the lab reportedly accounted for 35% of the hospital’s net profits.

If you or a loved one’s medical procedure was unnecessary, you may be entitled to financial compensation. To learn more about your eligibility to collect monetary damages, please contact the attorneys at Balkan & Patterson, LLP, and we will review your case at no charge.

The law firm of Balkan & Patterson, LLP was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, at 601 S. Federal Highway, Suite 302, with offices in Broward County. Mr. Balkan and Mr. Patterson can be contacted at (561) 750-9191. Additional information about Balkan & Patterson, LLP may be obtained from the firm’s website at www.balkanpatterson.com.