“Are you killing your patients?”
That’s the question reporter J. David McSwane asked Dr. Thomas C. Weiner after many hours of interviews with the high-profile oncologist.
Weiner had been hailed as savior upon his arrival at St. Peter’s in Helena, Montana — the only acute care facility in about a 100-mile radius — becoming a favorite of patients and the hospital’s highest earner. But as Weiner’s reputation grew, so did the trail of patient harm and suspicious deaths.
McSwane documents allegations made in court that Weiner misdiagnosed patients, directed unnecessary cancer treatment and prescribed dangerous and unneeded levels of narcotics. Court records show St. Peter’s ignored warning signs for years, including internal complaints from nurses and doctors. (A hospital spokesperson said “there was no reason at the time for St. Peter’s to believe that Dr. Weiner was providing substandard care.”)
Weiner denies that he harmed or misdiagnosed patients, and he maintains that his treatments were appropriate. The hospital said it provides quality care, and ProPublica’s findings are “isolated to a single, former physician.”
