Heart surgeons accused of running multiple operations at once, leaving trainees in charge: US
Three surgeons have been accused of delegating “extremely complicated” heart surgeries to unqualified medical residents so they could run up to three surgeries at once.
Over seven years, the surgeons allegedly oversaw two — and sometimes three — surgeries concurrently, according to a press release from the US Attorney’s Office which investigated the claims with the FBI.
The surgeries included coronary artery bypass grafts, valve repairs and aortic repairs and occurred without the patients’ consent nor a designated backup surgeon.
The three Houston, Texas medical institutions where the surgeons — Dr Joseph Coselli, 71; Dr Joseph Lamelas, 63 and Dr David Ott, 77 — operated, have agreed to pay $US15 million ($22,513,000) after a whistleblower made claims in a lawsuit.
