Thousands of patients across the country have likely undergone unnecessary coronary stent implants that may have caused complications including stroke and even death.
Investigations have been launched in a number of hospitals, among them Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, which recently notified patients they may have undergone stent implants they did not need. The cardiologist involved resigned. (Watch TV news coverage)
If you or a loved one had an elective coronary stent implant and suffered subsequent complications or injuries, you should email or call our attorneys handling unnecessary coronary stent procedures for a free evaluation of your case.
Kline & Specter, PC, with more than 40 attorneys, five of whom are also highly experienced doctors, has the expertise to litigate stent implant cases. The Philadelphia-based law firm handles cases nationwide and is a leader in obtaining large medical malpractice verdicts and settlements. (See Medical Malpractice Major Victories)
Civil lawsuits have sprung up over stent procedures in several states, including Pennsylvania, Maryland, Tennessee and Texas. At one hospital in Maryland, St. Joseph Medical Center, nine doctors have been named in civil suits for allegedly performing unnecessary stent implants.
Stents are mesh tubes that are implanted to open blocked arteries. But they are not without risk, including the potential of causing blood clots and possible stroke.
Many top doctors feel that stents are implanted when the procedure is not necessary, when arteries are not sufficiently blocked and the condition can be treated using medication. And studies bear this out, with one reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association showing that only 50 percent of elective procedures (those performed on stable patients) were appropriate, with 12 percent not necessary and the other 38 percent uncertain.
In some cases, the profit motive may be at fault, with doctors running up large bills performing stent implants when they might not been needed. In one article, chief cardiologist Steven Nissen at the renowned Cleveland Clinic noted that doctors are paid per procedure rather than on a salary basis, while the Mayo Clinic’s chief of cardiology, Raymond J. Gibbons, also cited the financial incentive of performing procedures.
Another study, known as COURAGE, tracked 2,287 patients over five years and found that trying drugs first on stable patients and implanting stents only if pain persisted did not affect the rate of heart attacks or deaths.
If you or a loved one was injured by an unnecessary coronary stent procedure, call the medical malpractice attorneys at Kline & Specter. We represent clients in lawsuits in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and nationwide.
Unnecessary Stent Implant News
- Shanin Specter files suit in unnecessary stent procedure case - The Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/6/13
