The story Frank Ward tells about his medical history would sound familiar to just about any malpractice attorney in Baltimore.
He went to St. Joseph Medical Center for a heart procedure, Dr. Mark Midei put a stent in his artery after finding a blockage, and now another doctor says the blockage was insignificant and the stent wasn't necessary. A total of 585 patients have received letters from St. Joseph describing similar scenarios, after the Towson hospital reviewed the last two years of Midei's cases.
"I feel betrayed," said Ward, a 50-year-old courtroom constable from Perry Hall.
But similarities aside, Ward's case also represents a whole new category of potential problems for St. Joseph, and it suggests that the hospital could be facing legal claims from many more of its former patients.