Florida Heart Surgery Law Bugs Tenet Healthcare

"The same day we learned of Barbakow's hypocritical lawsuit on the West Coast, we also learned that Tenet has filed a lawsuit on the East Coast to attempt to block open-heart competition in Florida," committee spokesman Paul Brickman told TheStreet.com last week. "The spirit of Barbakow continues to haunt this company and its culture."

Tenet's stock, which fetched $65 a share at the time of Barbakow's sale, fell 32 cents Tuesday to $12.79.

Just weeks ago, the shareholder committee called for federal prosecutors to examine possible violations of Medicare laws -- and a brand-new corporate integrity agreement with the government -- at yet another Tenet-owned hospital in southern Florida. The committee uncovered a complaint from David Prager, "a well-respected physician and cancer specialist," claiming that Tenet's North Ridge Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale had billed Medicare for the treatment of nonexistent conditions.

Tenet remains under intense government scrutiny. It has been accused of, among other things, overbilling Medicare and profiting from unnecessary heart surgeries. It is currently seeking a global settlement that, some believe, could be reached relatively soon. But the Tenet Shareholder Committee has loudly urged government authorities not to let the company off the hook.

"Past corporate integrity agreements with Tenet have failed to protect patients, shareholders and taxpayers from a recurrence of fraud," committee Chairman M. Lee Pearce stated last month. "That is why we believe in any future settlements with Tenet, the Department of Justice must include strict provisions to protect patient health and safety and to end financial rip-offs of government healthcare programs."

Tenet has already paid a record-breaking fine to settle allegations that it profited from numerous unnecessary heart surgeries carried out at its former hospital in Redding, Calif. But it still faces hundreds of civil lawsuits filed on behalf of past heart patients -- some of them now dead -- who underwent questionable heart procedures there. It has been accused of recklessly endangering patient lives at its Palm Beach hospital as well.