ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - A hospital was fined $18,000 on Friday because a doctor exaggerated the severity of some patients' conditions to move them up on the heart transplant waiting list.
The state Health Department cited Albany Medical Center Hospital for nine violations and accused a physician of submitting inaccurate information to the United Network for Organ Sharing, which runs the nation's transplant system under a federal contract.
Inspectors comparing medical charts and information sent to the transplant network found that in five cases, the hospital falsely reported that the patients would die within a week without a heart transplant.
The investigation came after a routine audit last year by the network found record-keeping discrepancies for the majority of 45 patients listed as most critically in need of a new heart. The state investigation concurred with the network's report.
"The pride and the drive for success took over common sense," said state Health Commissioner Antonia Novello, adding that the hospital lacked oversight on the program's record-keeping.
After the internal review, Albany Medical Center abruptly shut down its heart transplant unit last October and suspended Dr. Charles Canver, a transplant surgeon and Dr. Lawrence Zisman, a transplant cardiologist. Novello declined to say which doctor actually submitted the data.
Canver's lawyer, E. Stewart Jones, said his client sent information to the transplant network, but other doctors and nurses compiled the data.
"To the extent the information was inaccurate, untimely or incorrect in any way, he would not have known that and he can't be faulted for that," Jones said.
Zisman's lawyer, Richard Honen, said his client did nothing wrong. "He never communicated any inaccurate information to anyone," he said.
Both doctors are now under internal review by the hospital and remain on suspension.
Albany Medical Center has 10 days to file a corrective plan with the state and cannot reopen its heart transplant program without approval from the state and the transplant network.
Steven Frisch, the hospital's general director, said the corrective plan will include a better system of checks and balances before information is sent to the network.
James Barba, Albany Medical Center's chief executive officer, acknowledged that oversight of the program was inadequate. He said he was confident the transplant program will resume by year's end.
The heart transplant unit opened in April 2000 and has performed 88 operations. Patients waited two months at Albany Medical Center Hospital compared to the national average of 10 months. The survival rate after a year of transplant was 92 percent, compared to the national average of 84 percent.
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On the Net:
Hospital: http://www.amc.edu
Health department: http://www.health.state.ny.us
