Civil lawsuit: A deeper look into the government's claims against Dr. Weiner (2024)

A deeper dive into the 41-page civil lawsuit filed Aug. 26 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office against Helena oncologist Dr. Thomas Weiner offers more details on allegations he ordered medically unnecessary treatment and falsified records to double bills for patient office visits in what prosecutors said was in order to “increase his personal income with little regard for the potential patient harm his conduct created.”

He is also accused of issuing prescriptions for drugs, such as hydrocodone and morphine, that were not for a legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of practice.

In terms of the claims on unlawful prescribing of controlled substances, “The total number of violations will be proven at trial, but it is believed to be at least 316 prescriptions for controlled substances” to 11 patients from at least Aug. 19, 2019, through the end of 2020, the government stated.

In its claims for relief, the U.S. Attorney’s Office notes it is entitled to “three times" the damages on all counts, with the exact amount to be proven at trial. They said he must “make restitution to the United States.” The government is also seeking payment for attorneys’ fees and costs.

U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said Tuesday the lawsuit against Weiner in U.S. District Court in Helena is 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 for false health care claims and improper prescribing on controlled substances.

Weiner saw 50-70 patients in a typical day at St. Peter’s Health Cancer Treatment Center and spent an average of four to seven minutes on each office visit, which left little time to review medical history, diagnose illnesses, prepare treatments or do proper notations on medical charts, the court filing states. They said most oncologists see 15.

“Weiner wanted this schedule because it maximized his income,” the lawsuit states. “The more Weiner could direct St. Peter’s to bill the more Weiner was paid.”

They said many patients did not know why they needed an appointment with the doctor. Prosecutors also allege Weiner continually prescribed high quantities of opioids and other controlled substances to those who desired them.

Weiner was fired from St. Peter’s in 2020 and is embroiled in a wrongful termination suit with the hospital that is now in the Montana Supreme Court.

Weiner’s attorney, Deanne McClung of Denver-based Hall & Evans, offered comment Tuesday:

"While we do not generally comment on pending litigation, Dr. Weiner denied all wrongdoing and asserts that these proceedings are the result of ongoing employment litigation with St. Peter’s Hospital," she said. "We are confident that when the evidence is presented, Dr. Weiner will be exonerated."

The U.S. Attorney’s Office on Aug. 27 said it reached a $10,844,201settlement with St. Peter’s Health to resolve an alleged violation of the False Claims Act and announced the civil suit against Weiner the same day.

The government alleges that between Jan. 1, 2015, and Dec. 31, 2020, St. Peter’s, relying on Weiner’s documentation and certification, submitted claims which were determined to be false. St. Peter’s knew, or should have known, that Weiner submitted claims for office visits that were coded at a higher level of service than was actually performed or did not meet the requirements of a significant, separately identifiable service when performed on the same day as administration of chemotherapy.

St. Peter’s said it voluntarily filed an initial self-report in December 2020 and a final report in May 2022 to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the U.S. Office of the Inspector General (OIG) based on concerns identified in an audit of Dr. Weiner’s clinical documentation.

The settlement agreement credits St. Peter’s for voluntarily self-disclosing the misconduct; performing and disclosing the results of an internal investigation; disclosing documents beyond existing business practices or legal requirements; identifying individuals who were aware of relevant information or conduct; making officers and employees available for interviews; assisting in determining the losses caused by the misconduct; and enhancing its corporate compliance program.

St. Peter’s officials said: "We believe this is an isolated situation and when learned there was a potential issue, we did the right thing and self-reported, and we were credited by the Department of Justice for taking this action.”

They said they would pay the settlement with reserves within 30 days and had no plans reduce staff or services.

Weiner had been with St. Peter’s Health since 1996 and from 2016 to 2020 was the only oncologist. The filing noted that when Weiner went on vacation, St. Peter’s employed two or three locum tenens to fill in.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office noted Weiner was the highest-paid medical provider working for St. Peter’s Health since at least 2016. While a figure is not listed in the court documents, the IRS 900 filing by St. Peter’s Health for 2020 notes he was paid $1.8 million.

The government accuses Weiner of double billing for office visits and filling out “superbills,” which they describe as a charge designed to allow a medical provider to quickly identify the services provided to a patient so they can billed correctly to government health care programs.

They accuse Weiner of filling out false claims and double billing for the patient office visit from August 2018 through December 2020. He had also failed to maintain written substantiation of the billed services.

Authorities said Weiner knew the claims were false since early 2018 when an outside audit found some code billing was not justified by the medical records. In one instance, he wrote he had lost $100,000 on the billing issue so far that year, court documents state.

“Get it fixed now or you will have a very public lawsuit on your hands,” he reportedly said in an email.

The government said Weiner had patients make unnecessary office visits and he routinely scheduled patients for office visits in between cycles of chemotherapy treatment, which was not standard medical practice and was a false claim. Officials said he used serum tumor marker testing more than medically appropriate.

“Subjecting patients to this unnecessary and inappropriate testing could have been harmful to the patient and potentially led to further unnecessary medical treatment … ,” the lawsuit states.

It notes he prescribed and billed for the cancer drug Rituximab to treat patients for longer than medically appropriate, which is one-two years, and he prescribed it for 10 years or more. They said he did this to make false claims to government health care programs.

He also used nonstandard chemotherapy regiments that had more frequent administration schedules that allowed him to bill more frequently and increase his personal revenue, the government alleges.

“These non-standard chemotherapy regimens were not medically necessary, as they did not improve patients outcomes; in fact they potentially caused patient harm,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated.

Weiner still has community support from former patients, their families and others. They continue to back the doctor on social media.