Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1348345
19 PATIENT SAFETY & OUTCOMES www.surgisign.com • (866)888-7222 • info@surgisign.com St. Peter's oncologist incorrectly treated patient for lung cancer for 11 years, hospital says By Erica Carbajal H elena, Mont.-based St. Peter's Health claims a former oncologist at the health system incorrectly treated a pa- tient for lung cancer for 11 years when, at the time of the patient's death, it was determined the individual did not have the disease, the Independent Record reported Jan. 20. St. Peter's on Nov. 17 ended the employ- ment of Tom Weiner, MD, an oncologist who worked at the health system for nearly 25 years, aer learning the physician had been harming patients for years, CEO Wade Johnson wrote in a letter published in the Independent Record. St. Peter's attorneys claim Dr. Weiner treated a patient, referred to as Patient 1 in court documents, without performing a biopsy to confirm a lung cancer diagnosis. "More troubling is that the physicians who treated Patient 1 at the outside hospital noted that there was no conclusive evidence in the record that Patient 1 ever had lung cancer," the documents said, according to the Independent Record. "Nonetheless, he treated Patient 1 with highly toxic chemo- therapy for more than a decade, resulting in the patient's demise." e documents detail other alleged errors made by Dr. Weiner, including "alarming narcotic prescribing practices," in which he prescribed high-dose opioids to patients with non-cancer pain without documentation. St. Peter's legal counsel said they confirmed the prescriptions by searching through the Mon- tana Prescription Drug Registry. Other alle- gations of harm include a situation where Dr. Weiner treated a patient who went through chemotherapy for eight years without retest- ing to evaluate whether the treatment was still necessary, patients not understanding why they were being treated and inadequate documentation of physical exams. J. Devlan Geddes, Dr. Weiner's attorney, denied the claims. "He carefully monitored every patient for whom he prescribed opioid medications to ensure the patient needed the medication and was not addicted," Mr. Geddes wrote in an email to the Independent Record. Dr. Weiner filed a lawsuit against the hospital Dec. 10 aer he was dismissed from his po- sition Nov. 17, claiming it was done without good cause and damaged his reputation. Some of Dr. Weiner's former patients filed a class-action lawsuit against St. Peter's in November, claiming they weren't consulted before his sudden absence, resulting in gaps in their care. A judge dismissed the class-ac- tion lawsuit in early February and said the claims must first be filed with the state's medical legal panel. n