Cardiac Surgeon Files Federal Suit Against St. Joseph

A cardiac surgeon has filed a lawsuit against St. Joseph Medical Center in federal district court alleging he suffered harassment, threats and lost wages due to his whistleblower involvement in the saga of stents and kickbacks that has plagued the hospital.

Dr. Peter Horneffer was one of several whistleblowers who worked with the federal government while investigators looked into a kickback scheme between the hospital and MidAtlantic Cardiovascular Associates. St. Joseph and its parent, Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives,  on those charges in November.

The charges were related to a larger investigation of Dr. Mark Midei, the Monkton cardiologist who allegedly implanted stents into patients who did not require them. that Midei and St. Joseph had improper relationships with a stent manufacturer. Midei has wrongdoing in the case and has sued the hospital for defamation.

Horneffer's 23-page lawsuit, filed on Feb. 15, alleges that hospital officials illegally choked off referrals to him and his employer, Cardiac Surgery Associates, and instead sent patients to MidAtlantic. (We've made the full lawsuit available here; just click the PDF icon under the picture at the top of this page.) Horneffer claims the actions were taken after he alerted senior St. Joseph management to illicit practices there, including failing to refer patients to CSA and manipulating the peer review process.

After settling cases related to those charges, St. Joseph agreed to hire Horneffer, but he alleges that since then, he has been "harassed, intimidated and discriminated against ... for the purpose of destroying his surgical practice at St. Joseph's."

According to the lawsuit, first reported by the Baltimore Business Journal today, Horneffer demands double the amount of back pay since 2001, with interest, and compensatory and punitive damages.

For its part, the hospital refutes Horneffer's claims, saying they are "entirely unfounded."

"St. Joseph hopes to resolve the issues amicably with Dr. Horneffer and without the need for litigation," the hospital said in a statement.

Horneffer is still an employee at St. Joseph, and Baltimore attorney J. Stephen Simms, a member of Horneffer's legal team, declined to comment further on the case.

St. Joseph's website lists Horneffer as part of the hospital's "world-class team of heart specialists" who has "performed more than 3,000 open heart operations."