GJEL Secures $111.7 Million for Patients Who Underwent Needless Heart Surgery at Redding Medical Center

In October 2002, FBI agents raided Redding Medical Center, a Tenet Healthcare hospital in Northern California, after investigators concluded that two physicians had performed hundreds of unnecessary cardiac catheterizations and open-heart surgeries on patients who did not need them. The procedures included bypass surgery and heart valve replacement. Many patients suffered serious complications including stroke, heart attack, infection, and paralysis as a result.

The two cardiologists at the center of the investigation, Dr. Chae Hyun Moon and Dr. Fidel Realyvasquez, had generated enormous procedure volumes at the hospital over several years. Whistleblowers, including a fellow physician and a patient, brought the pattern to the attention of federal authorities. A government investigation ultimately confirmed that patient medical records routinely did not support the clinical necessity of the surgeries that had been performed.

More than 750 civil suits were filed against Tenet Healthcare. The litigation was handled by several plaintiff firms, and Gillin, Jacobson, Ellis and Larsen of Orinda, California, took on representation of 186 of the 769 patients and their families. Partner Luke Ellis led the firm's docket, and the cases involved a wide range of harm, from patients who survived with lasting physical damage to families who lost relatives following procedures that were never warranted in the first place.

In December 2004, Tenet Healthcare agreed to establish a $395 million settlement fund to resolve substantially all of the patient civil litigation. The fund was to be allocated among the plaintiff groups based on the number and severity of claims each firm represented. GJEL's clients received approximately $111.7 million, the largest single-firm share of the overall fund. The settlement was subject to California court approval and plaintiff ratification. A separate government action had already produced a $54 million settlement in August 2003, and the physicians accused in the scandal later settled patient malpractice claims for a combined total worth more than $32.5 million, backed by $24 million in insurance policy limits.

Andy Gillin later described the Tenet result as among the firm's most significant recoveries. The $395 million pool covered 769 victims. GJEL's portion, representing roughly 24 percent of the plaintiff class, accounted for nearly 28 percent of the total fund.