Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Eleven more women file lawsuits against Dallas’ Presbyterian Hospital in eating disorders fraud case

By Pegasus News wire

DALLAS — Eleven more women have come forward to add their names to the list of those claiming doctors at Dallas’ Presbyterian Hospital took part in a billing scheme designed to take money from them and their insurance companies. The women, all of whom once were patients in the hospital’s eating disorders program, say they were duped into believing they had heart problems that required additional, expensive testing.

Photo not provided by Rose Walker

The plaintiffs allege that the hospital convinced them they had heart problems

The group of women filed their cases in the 298th Judicial District Court in Dallas County. They join five women who sued the hospital’s eating disorders program for fraud in May 2007. Those cases are still pending.

Dr. Damaris Young Wright, from Dallas-based Texas Pediatric Cardiology Associates and Sunrise, Fla.-based Pediatrix, allegedly told each of the women that their eating disorders had damaged their hearts and recommended that they restrict their activities and return to the hospital for further tests.

According to the suit, the women later learned that they had suffered no heart damage.

“In truth, it didn’t make a bit of difference what the tests showed,” says attorney Marty Rose of Rose Walker, L.L.P., who represents the plaintiffs. “They were just going to tell each of the women the same thing and keep billing them until they got wise or until their deductibles ran out.”

The lawsuit claims the use of a pediatric cardiologist was central to the scheme. By comparing the women’s tests to normal levels of heart function established for children rather than adults, the doctors were able to interpret the results in a manner that convinced the women they had heart problems although none existed.

“This was care these women didn’t need for a problem they didn’t have,” Mr. Rose adds.

Source: Rose Walker

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