A Washington hospital and its insurance carrier have won $4.1 million against a Louisiana hospital and two doctors who gave excellent recommendations for a doctor without disclosing his drug problem.
Dr. Robert Lee Berry had been diverting the narcotic Demerol from patients for his own use while working in Louisiana. Two of his partners and the administration at Lakeview Regional Medical Center in New Orleans knew of his drug problem, but failed to disclose it to officials at Kadlec Medical Center.
Instead, they offered "glowing letters of recommendation" for him to Kadlec. Dr Berry, an anesthesiologist, was involved in a 2002 surgery at Kadlec Medical Center that left a woman severely brain-damaged. Kadlec Medical Center and Seattle-based Western Professional Insurance filed suit in U.S. District Court in Louisiana, alleging fraud and misrepresentation.
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