2011
Attorney Jason Matzus, partner at Raizman, Frischman & Matzus, and Attorney Michael Rosenzweig, litigation manager and partner at Edgar Snyder & Associates, filed a medical malpractice lawsuit on behalf of a 76-year-old Latrobe man who received an unnecessary stent in 2010. The lawsuit contends that he suffered from medical complications after undergoing two stent implants in May and June of 2010. The nine-count lawsuit is seeking an unspecified amount in damages against Dr. Ehab F. Marcos and Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital for claims that include negligence, conspiracy, fraud and malpractice.
After his second procedure in June of 2010, the Latrobe man obtained a second opinion from Dr. Jerome Granato, who was the medical director of the coronary care unit at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. Dr. Granato sent him a letter in March 2011 stating that the second procedure done by Dr. Ehab F. Marcos was not medically necessary. Granato now serves as the chief medical officer and senior vice president of medical affairs at Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg, PA.
This is not the only case pending concerning the placement of unnecessary stents at Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital. After complaints by physicians at the hospital about excessive stent use, two teams that included nationally recognized interventional cardiologists reviewed the practices of the cardiac catheterization laboratory at Westmoreland. Results of the two reviews showed that two doctors, Morcos and Dr. George Bousamra, implanted 149 unneeded stents in 141 patients in 2010.
Both physicians resigned in January after being questioned about their practices, but according to the Pennsylvania Department of State the doctors' licenses are in good standing and there have been no disciplinary actions on file. The Latrobe man is the eighth person to file a lawsuit against Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital and Morcos or Bousamra in the last week. We look for many more lawsuits to be filed in the near future.
Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital is currently reviewing the practices of the two cardiologists in 2009 and we expect that many more people will be informed that their stent was not medically necessary.
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Tags: Cardiologist, Excela, Matzus, Medical Malpractice, Westmoreland, stentComments: Leave a commentView the Original article