HELENA — The U.S. Department of Justice has announced a $10.8 million settlement with St. Peter’s Health to resolve an alleged violation of the False Claims Act involving former employee Dr. Thomas Weiner, and a federal civil complaint has also been filed against Dr. Weiner by the DOJ.
The U.S. Attorney's Office and St. Peter's each held news conferences Tuesday to explain the settlement.
The settlement agreement says St. Peter’s submitted false claims for payments to federal health care programs — including Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE — relating to services performed and referred by Dr. Weiner.
The government alleged that between Jan. 1, 2015, and Dec. 31, 2020, St. Peter’s, relying on Dr. Weiner’s documentation and certification, submitted claims that were determined to be false. Those claims include office visits coded at a higher level of service than what was performed. The government further alleges that St. Peter’s compensated Dr. Weiner with a salary based on those false claims, relying again on Dr. Weiner’s reporting, which caused his salary to be inconsistent with fair market value.
Dr. Weiner had worked as director of St. Peter's Health Cancer Treatment Center. In late 2020, he was dismissed from the hospital following several investigations by St. Peter’s into allegations of harming patients. In response, Dr. Weiner filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the organization alleging he had been terminated due to his opposition to the St. Peter’s CEO. In Aug. 2023, a Montana District Court judge ruled in favor of St. Peter’s Health regarding the termination of Dr. Weiner. That case is currently on appeal in the Montana Supreme Court.
On Monday, the DOJ filed a civil complaint against Dr. Weiner in U.S. District Court, alleging false health care claims and improper prescribing of controlled substances.
Federal attorneys allege Dr. Weiner used his position as the chief medical oncologist at St. Peter’s Cancer Treatment Center to order medically unnecessary treatment and knowingly falsified records to double bill for patient office visits as an effort to increase his personal income.
Dr. Weiner is further accused of issuing numerous prescriptions for Schedule II controlled substances – including hydrocodone, morphine, and fentanyl – to multiple non-cancer patients that were not for a legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of professional practice.
(Read the full federal complaint against Dr. Thomas Weiner)
In a statement to MTN, Dr. Weiner's lawyer Deanne McClung said, "While we do not generally comment on pending litigation, Dr. Weiner denies any wrongdoing and asserts these proceedings are the result of ongoing employment litigation with St. Peter’s Hospital. We are confident that when the evidence is presented in Court, Dr. Weiner will be exonerated."
St. Peter’s is credited in the DOJ settlement for voluntarily self-reporting the alleged issues.
“They disclosed the misconduct that they thought occurred, and that's important,” U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich told MTN.
The DOJ also notes that St. Peter’s disclosed the results of an internal investigation, disclosed documents beyond existing business practices and legal requirements, made officers and employees available for interviews and enhanced its corporate compliance program.
The total amount St. Peter’s will pay in the settlement is $10,844,201. Laslovich said it's because of their cooperation with the investigation that his office didn't seek higher damages.
“St. Peter's is an organization of integrity, and we have accountability for what occurred before Dr. Weiner's dismissal in 2020,” said St. Peter's CEO Wade Johnson during his news conference. “I am beyond proud of our administration and medical staff leadership for living values throughout a difficult and demoralizing situation.”
Johnson said leaders believe this to be an isolated issue. He said they've taken steps since 2020 to strengthen their compliance.
“As an organization, we're in a very different place today than we were four or five years ago,” he told MTN.
Johnson acknowledged this is a significant financial settlement for St. Peter’s, and said it will be paid out of their reserves with no donor funds used. However, he said they have known they would need to make this payment and have been planning for it for several years. He said it won't affect their ongoing operations, and the organization will continue to invest in its people and the community.
“We're focused on taking care of patients and doing the right thing, and so we continue to keep our focus on what the community needs,” he said.
Laslovich said he understood the issues involving St. Peter's and Dr. Weiner had been divisive in the Helena community. He said the settlement was not an “indictment of the quality of care being provided by St. Peter's Health, as well as their doctors and their providers.”
“The settlement should serve as notice to all Montana health care providers, whether they are doctors or clinics or hospitals, that they simply must submit accurate claims when billing for taxpayer-supported federal health care programs for services rendered,” he said.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include additional information and quotes from U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich and St. Peter's Health CEO Wade Johnson.
