Walla Walla, Wash.-based Providence St. Mary Medical Center is facing four lawsuits that have been filed in the past six months on behalf of more than 100 patients claiming they were harmed by unnecessary surgeries performed by two former neurosurgeons, the Union-Bulletin reported April 20.
What happened?
- The lawsuits come three years after Renton-based Providence Health & Services settled a Department of Justice lawsuit that alleged the health system had fraudulently billed insurance programs for unnecessary operations performed by Jason Dreyer, DO, and Daniel Elskens, MD.
- The original lawsuit alleged that between 2013 and 2018, the neurosurgeons were paid based on a productivity metric that incentivized them to perform more complex surgeries. They were among the highest-producing neurosurgeons in the system.
- Providence said that medical staff raised concerns about Drs. Dreyer’s and Elskens’ respective practices, including concerns over patient safety, excessive level of complications and negative outcomes, performing surgeries on inappropriate candidates and improperly documenting their procedures and outcomes.
- Drs. Dreyer and Elskens were placed on administrative leave in 2017 and 2018, respectively, but were allowed to resign without being reported to the National Practitioners Data Bank, which could have hindered their ability to be hired in the future. Dr. Dreyer is no longer licensed to practice in the state of Washington.
- That lawsuit was settled for $22.7 million in 2022.
What’s next?
- More than 100 former patients have filed four lawsuits against the system, alleging they were harmed by the surgeries performed by Drs. Dreyer and Elskens.
- One of the lawsuits is filed solely by people ages 70 and older, in hopes that their advanced age will help expedite the path to trial, according to attorney Bill Gilbert, who filed all four lawsuits.
- The most recent lawsuit was filed March 11 and names the Providence system, as well as Drs. Dreyer and Elskens, as defendants.
“At Providence, quality and safety are our top priorities,” Emily Volland, a hospital spokesperson, told Becker’s. “We have strong protocols and safeguards to ensure we deliver quality care and make continuous improvements that further enhance those protocols and safeguards. Since entering the corporate integrity agreement that we reached with the U.S. Department of Health’s Office of Inspector General, we have taken swift action to implement the terms of that agreement. Our commitment to our mission remains steadfast, as does our dedication to serving the Walla Walla Valley with safe, quality, compassionate care. Out of respect for the privacy of the individuals involved in pending litigation, we will not comment further on these matters.”
