U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich announces a $10.8 mil. settlement with St. Peter's Health over violations of the False Claims Act.
Attorneys for Dr. Thomas Weiner on Friday said the federal government's opposition to his motion to dismiss the civil lawsuit against him lacked facts, offers few theories and was a rush forward without offering details.
"Keeping with the tradition of anticipation in this holiday season, the government's Opposition proposes the Court deny the Motion to Dismiss and open the discovery phase so we can all find out - even the government it seems - what is beneath their shiny claims."
They said in their 15-page response the discovery process will likely reveal information that disproves the government's narrative, the potential for later disclosure and dismissal does not excuse the government's failure "to plausibly plead facts when threatening Dr. Weiner with financial ruin," attorneys Joseph E.H. Atkinson and J. Devlan Geddes wrote.
They said that according to the government, Weiner will have to wait to learn which of the tens of thousands of his medical decisions, some dating back as many as six years, were inappropriate.
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They said the complaint offers few details as to what Weiner did wrong.
"He cannot know which estimated thousands of patients he saw during the relevant period that form the bases of the government's claims, what drugs or treatments he allegedly prescribed to them or what facts made his treatment made not medically necessary."
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Montana declined comment Friday.
Weiner, the lone oncologist at St. Peter's Cancer Treatment Center, was fired from St. Peter's Health in late 2020. Weiner, who said he saw 50-70 patients a day while at St. Peter's, has filed a wrongful termination suit with the hospital that is now in the Montana Supreme Court.
The U.S. Attorney's Office filed a 42-page civil complaint against Weiner in August on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veteran's Affairs and the Drug Enforcement Administration. It seeks the maximum civil penalties, prohibiting Weiner from issuing prescriptions for controlled substances for five years and to get the money that "Weiner obtained without right and by which Weiner has been unjustly enriched."
St. Peter's reached a $10.8 million settlement with the government to resolve an alleged violation of the False Claims Act that were related to services performed and referred by Weiner.
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The Dec. 6 response from the U.S. Attorney's Office said it successfully alleged Weiner, the former chief oncologist for St. Peter's Health, "operated outside his specialty" by prescribing high levels of opioids to patients who no longer had cancer and failed to follow standard protocol for 11 patients at issue.
Weiner's attorneys said Friday the government rushed to this complaint after having delayed action for nearly four years after Weiner was stripped of his livelihood.
"The Government rushed this Complaint forward, before selecting its claims, to grab the largest swath of claims it could," Weiner's attorneys wrote.
They said the complaint should be dismissed because it offers few details, "and non substantiating a scheme or any specific claims that were false or prescriptions that were improper ...."
In its Dec. 6 response to Weiner's Nov. 15 motion to dismiss, the state said it had full confidence in its case.
Weiner's attorneys said the government had faulted Weiner for its failure to "plead the specific patients or prescriptions at issue in its complaint."
"Indeed the Government imperiously suggests that Dr. Weiner's uncertainty about what exactly he stands accused of is of his own making. 'he never requested this information from the United States prior to filing a motion,' ... How absurd."
They said Weiner should not have to "slog" through normal discovery and trial processes to get details of the government's claims.
Weiner's attorneys said the ultimate issue is whether his "subjective medial judgment was appropriate given the objective facts given to him."
Weiner's attorneys said the federal government's claims of double billing were without merit and do not "plausibly allege a scheme of knowledge."
They said the government did not plead with particularity the circumstances constituting fraud so that Weiner can defend against the charge and not just deny he has done anything wrong. They said claims he should respond to allegations in which he lacks information and seeks discovery is "no remedy at all."
They again asked the complaint be dismissed.
Assistant editor Phil Drake can be reached at 406-231-9021.
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