More Lawsuits Filed Against Ind. Doctor For Unnecessary Heart Procedures
(CBS) – The list is growing of patients who received heart surgeries and devices they allegedly did not need.
More than two dozen patients are now suing Munster, Ind. cardiologist Arvind Gandhi. The latest lawsuits were filed Monday, and attorneys expect even more people to come forward.
CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports.
Fifty-eight-year-old Deborah Davidson believes she might have died, if she had not gone to another doctor. Her problems, she says, began in 2011, when Gandhi told her she needed open-heart surgery.
She has two scars from a dozen invasive procedures. A second opinion later, she's learned none of them were necessary.
"It just tore me up," says Davidson.
She is one of 28 people now suing Gandhi, his practice and Munster Community Hospital, alleging they had unnecessary procedures on Gandhi's advice.
Nineteen lawsuits were filed Monday. Korean War Veteran Steve Mayerak, 84, is among the plaintiffs. He says he underwent 30 needless procedures.
"I had six or seven angiograms, plus five pacemaker operations," he says. "It was traumatic, and it could have all been prevented."
CBS 2 first reported the allegations last spring, later talking to hospital cardiologist Scott Kaufman, who says he took concerns about Ghandi to officials with no results. In depositions, other doctors state the same.
Attorneys Barry Rooth and Dave Cutshaw believe money was the motivation, with much of it coming as Medicare reimbursements.
They sent this letter to Indiana's attorney general asking for a revocation of Gandhi's license.
Ghandi's attorney chose not to comment. Hospital officials say they don't comment on lawsuit allegations but confirmed Gandhi resigned from the hospital earlier this month.
