Federal attorneys have filed a new lawsuit over a doctor’s allegedly unnecessary spinal surgeries, even as a class-action suit against Providence Health & Services over his work gains steam.
Last week, the U.S. Attorney for eastern Washington state filed a lawsuit against Tacoma-based Multicare Health over surgeries Jason Dreyer conducted in Spokane at Deaconess Hospital.
Dreyer has denied engaging in fraudulent behavior or harming patients. However, it represents the second such case the federal government filed accusing a hospital system of turning a blind eye to Dreyer’s alleged misconduct. It also contends executives did not move quickly enough to address concerns. Providence Health & Services, a major hospital system based in Washington state that also operates several hospitals in Oregon, paid more than $22 million to the federal government and agreed to long-term safety improvements to settle an earlier case involving Dreyer in 2022.
According to the federal attorneys, Providence had allowed Dreyer to resign from Providence St. Mary Hospital in Walla Walla Washington without reporting him to the state Department of Health or a national databank of alleged doctor misconduct despite “allegations that he was performing medically-unnecessary surgeries, harming patients, and falsifying diagnoses.”
Last year, Dreyer reportedly settled his portion of the case — which a whistleblower at St. Mary initiated — by paying more than $1.1 million, according to the Tri-City Herald.
The new U.S. Attorney lawsuit, meanwhile, claims Multicare hired Dreyer after he resigned from Providence despite “red flags” during the hiring process. It then allowed him to continue performing surgeries for more than a year after being informed that the federal government was investigating allegations of harm to patients and falsified diagnoses, until the state Department of Health suspended his license.
According to Becker’s Spine Review, a Multicare spokesperson described the new allegations faulting Multicare as unfounded.
Meanwhile, a Spokane attorney, Bill Gilbert, has filed a class-action lawsuit against Providence concerning the actions of Dreyer and another doctor there, Daniel Elskens. It accuses Providence of engaging in “racketeering” by allowing the alleged improper surgeries to continue, potentially harming hundreds of patients.
According to one court filing, Providence lawyers said the last-known addresses of more than half of the patients affected by Dreyer’s activities were in Oregon.
A federal judge is scheduled to rule on whether to certify the class action next month.
