HOUSTON — We've learned more about the record $15 million settlement Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center paid following a federal investigation of three Houston heart surgeons accused of putting patients in jeopardy. We also heard from one of the surgeons today.
According to the feds, Dr. David Ott, 77, of Houston, Dr. Joseph Coselli, 71, of Houston and Dr. Joseph Lamelas, 63, of Miami, Florida, are accused of regularly leaving operating rooms during complicated and risky heart surgeries and leaving patients in the hands of unqualified medical residents.
The investigation began in 2019 when a whistleblower alleged Ott, Coselli and Lamelas were leaving residents to perform portions of complicated coronary artery bypass grafts, valve repairs, and aortic repair procedures. These surgeries typically involve opening a patient's chest and placing them on a bypass machine.
“In this case, doctors gambled with their patients’ care, during complicated open-heart surgeries no less, compromising quality of care over quantity and then falsely billed Medicare for reimbursement of services they improperly delegated," Houston Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams of the FBI said.
The whistleblower's attorney claims the surgeons falsely led Medicare to believe they were present during the entire surgery.
"Their concern was they were double and triple booking surgeries as routine practice," attorney Nathan Campbell told us. "The hospitals here didn't comply with the regulations and were paid for the procedures that did not comply with the regulations."
The feds say patients also weren't warned that their surgeons wouldn't be in the OR throughout their surgeries.
“Patients entrusted these surgeons with their lives - submitting to operations where one missed cut is the difference between life and death,” U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani said Monday. “Allegedly, the patients were unaware their doctor was leaving for another operating room."
Dr. Ott, who also served as chief surgeon for the Texas Heart Institute, has apparently retired. On Tuesday, he told us that he was in the operating rooms and did the operations and hadn't done anything wrong.
Dr. Coselli is still employed by Baylor College of Medicine as a professor and executive vice chair of surgery and we're told he still does surgeries. In a statement to KHOU 11, the college said, "We have great confidence in Dr. Coselli."
Dr. Lamelas is now employed by the University of Miami Health System as chief and program director of cardiothoracic surgery. His bio on the school's website calls him a "pioneer" in minimally invasive cardiac surgery.
The $15 million recovery is the largest settlement to date involving concurrent surgeries. The whistleblower will receive part of the settlement.
Baylor St. Luke's statement about $15M settlement
"Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center has reached an agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to resolve a documentation and billing matter involving compliance and billing requirements set forth by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The DOJ claims are strictly allegations and the settlement by Baylor St. Luke’s is not an admission of liability. Baylor St. Luke’s remains committed to complying with all CMS regulations.
Baylor St. Luke’s is a world-renowned academic medical center that cares for patients from throughout the world with the most complex conditions. The hospital provides its patients with safe, high-quality care and remains committed to compliance with all applicable regulations."
Baylor College of Medicine's statement about $15 settlement
Baylor College of Medicine, which employs the teaching physicians, said it did not engage in any conduct that violates federal law, but they decided to amicably resolve the dispute to avoid an expensive trial. They go on to say it’s important to note no patients were harmed.
“Baylor College of Medicine did not engage in conduct that violates any applicable federal law or regulation. It is also important to note that no patients were harmed. The settlement agreement acknowledged that BCM disputed that any violations of federal law occurred and that the College being a party to the agreement is not an admission of liability by Baylor. The College decided to amicably resolve the dispute prior to a trial on the merits after considering the cost and expense incurred by Baylor to date, and anticipated future costs and expenses, including attorneys’ fees.”