Medical Malpractice Alert: Is Your Heart Doctor Overusing Stents?

This month we covered the shocking story of a Texas heart doctor who is facing punishment from the Texas Medical Board as well as multiple medical malpractice lawsuits. The Austin cardiologist, Dr. Samuel DeMaio, is accused, among other things of placing a dangerous number of stents in his heart patients. According to documents attained from the Texas Medical Board, DeMaio placed up to 21 stents in one of his heart patients and a shocking 32 stents in another patient in just over one year.

DeMaio claims that the medical board is not looking at his average stents per patient, which he says is just 1.2. He also claims that he receives extremely challenging patients because he is a heart expert – and that some of these special cases require special treatment plans.

Stents are placed in heart patients in order to all blood to flow through blocked arteries. While stents can be extremely helpful to those fighting heart disease, no more than one or two stents should be placed in a patient because of serious complications. If a patient has multiple stents – what some doctors will call a “full metal jacket” – it can make it absolutely impossible for doctors to conduct bypass surgery on those patients in the future. In addition, patients with multiple stents can also suffer from in-stent stenosis, a condition in which the artery becomes narrow or blocked altogether because of stent placement.

Finally, patients who have too many stents are at high risk for stent thrombosis, a condition in which a blood clot forms in a stent area with dire results. The more stents you have, the greater the chance of stent thrombosis.

If you believe you have been the victim of unnecessary stent surgery or that your heart doctor has place too many stents in your body, causing serious complications, talk to a Texas medical malpractice attorney today.