"Excela Admits More Wrongdoing "

In the June 22, 2011 edition of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, Excela admitted to more wrongdoing in the stent controversy that has rocked Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. In a statement issued by Excela CEO Robert Rogalski, Excela, owner of Westmoreland Hospital, admitted that it recently confirmed the identity of 51 patients who received unnecessary coronary stents in 2009 at the hospital. This, when added to the total of 141 patients identified by Excela for the year 2010, brings the total to over 190 patients who received unnecessary coronary stents at Westmoreland Hospital in 2009 and 2010.

As with the patients who received unneeded stents in 2010, the doctors who were involved in the 2009 stent malfeasance were (not surprisingly), Ehab Morcos and George Bou Samra, interventional cardiologists with, at the time, staff privileges at Westmoreland Hospital. Excela has indicated that it will not review 2008 charts.
Stents are tiny expandable mesh tubes inserted into clogged arteries to keep them open. When a patient exhibits certain symptoms suggestive of acute coronary artery disease, a catherization, including a diagnostic test known as an angiogram, is performed. The angiogram helps to determine the existence and precise location of a clog. Generally, any artery that is more than 70% clogged is stented. If an artery is less than 70% clogged a stent is not necessary as the less severe blockage can be addressed with medication. As with any procedure, stents carry a risk of harm and side effects, including the potential for blood clots. This is why doctors do not insert stents unless medically necessary.

The one million dollar question is...WHY? Why did these doctors do it? Why did they expose their patients to unneeded medical risks? Why did Excela not acknowledge it until two or more years after it started? What did the doctors have to gain? What did Excela and Westmoreland Hospital have to gain? When did Excela first learn of it? Was Excela in on it? In the June 22, 2011 article, Excela indicated that it went public with these findings because "we think it is the right thing to do" Really? If it was the right thing to do in March 2011, why wasn't it the right thing to do a year or so earlier? What does "right thing to do" mean? Is it the right thing to do because Excela is trying to prevent a federal investigation? Is it the right thing to do because other doctors who were not in on it threatened to go public or to report Excela to the accreditation agencies?

I am an attorney who represents people who have received unnecessary stents. If you are the recipient of an unnecessary stent please contact me. I am paid exclusively on a contingent fee. There is no charge, ever