A whistle-blower lawsuit filed in mid-January against lap-band clinics associated with the 1-800-GET-THIN campaign has come on the heels of five patient deaths that some of the plaintiffs allege were the result of doctor errors. In addition, the families of patients who died during lap-band surgery have charged the clinics and doctors involved with wrongful death.
The whistle-blower complaint centers on charges that two workers were punished by the Valley Surgical Center in West Hills for reporting unsanitary condition. The clinic is owned by the Omidi brothers who altogether own 13 of the companies being charged in the lawsuits.
Though many details will only come out in trial, the death of 55 year old Paula Rojeski came as a shock to her friends and family. Described as not being significantly overweight, there is some question of whether Rojeski should have even been a candidate for the procedure.
The lap band surgery went awry when Dr. Deming Chau, the anesthesiologist, claimed the blood-pressure monitor was malfunctioning. Dr. Julius Gee ignored alarms and continued with the surgery that ended in Rojeski's death. Paramedics on the scene were not apprised that Rojeski's pulse stopped 15 minutes prior to the 911 call, and they attempted resuscitation.
The owner, Dr. Michael Omidi, instructed Chau to to delete information about when Rojeski had stopped breathing. Normally, such a case is followed up by a visit from the coroner's office and health authorities to help establish a cause of death and examine the equipment. However, Omidi had the equipment replaced before this visit, and this has held up an official determination of cause of death.
The Omidi brothers have brought several lawsuits against the Los Angeles Times, which has printed details of the ongoing stories, and three of these civil suits have been dismissed.