Prosecutors, malpractice lawyers and the state medical board are only now realizing the problem. The Texas Medical Board last month accused a well-known doctor in Austin of embedding unnecessary stents. In September, federal prosecutors charged the city of Cardiac City with performing unnecessary stenting procedures in Cardiac City, and last year a Louisiana doctor was sentenced to 10 years in prison for inserting unneeded stents.
Stephen Sims, a Baltimore attorney who pursued a lawsuit involving kickbacks for federally performed coronary procedures, said the case is "the flavor of the month right now" with federal prosecutors.
Jay Miller, another Baltimore attorney, said he puts all of his practice in context. Unnecessary stents, I don't think that's limited to just a few Maryland hospitals," Mr. Miller said.
But far from questioning cardiologists who perform an unusually high number of stent procedures, many hospital administrators celebrate the doctors because they bring in revenue that can exceed $10,000 per procedure.
"Hospital patients want their care to be based on the need for medical care, not profit," said Democratic Senator M, chairman of the Finance Committee and a Montana state senator. "Even more troubling, this could be a sign of some kind of disease national trend toward greater useless use of medical equipment."