A University of Kansas Hospital physician voluntarily withdrew his whistle-blower lawsuit against the hospital, stating he is "no longer afraid of retaliation" by the hospital, according to KCUR.
The lawsuit alleged that the chair of the pathology department at the University of Kansas hospital misdiagnosed a patient with cancer and proceeded to cover up the mistake for months after the patient had an essential organ surgically removed.
In his statement dismissing the suit, whistle-blower Lowell L. Tilzer, MD, added an addendum from the unidentified patient who was allegedly misdiagnosed. The statement was filed July 29.
In the addendum, the patient states he or she "did not know about the lawsuit until…July 26" when a surgeon at KU called the patient and asked them to sign an affidavit, which exonerated the hospital from any responsibility for the alleged actions outlined in Dr. Tilzer's suit. The statement said that the patient would not have known the surgery was unnecessary if they had not been asked to sign the affidavit.
The patient also claimed that he or she did not give the hospital permission to share their medical information with the individual who wrote the affidavit and that he or she would not sign it, according to the report.
Dr. Tilzer's dismissal of the lawsuit was issued a few days after the Kansas City, Kansas-based hospital moved to throw out the case.
Hospital officials claimed the lawsuit contained "knowingly false statements" and that Dr. Tilzer "knowingly misrepresented the facts" regarding the unidentified patient's care while undergoing treatment.
In his suit, Dr. Tilzer claimed he learned of the misdiagnosis in 2015. He said he examined the tissue from the removed organ and found that it was not cancerous, according to the report.