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Hospitals driving up profits with unnecessary procedures?

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    Florida nurse blows whistle on hospital group's cardiac work

  • Duration 3:04
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Attorneys in the state of Florida are now looking into whether doctors at some hospitals in that state.

Performed risky and completely unnecessary heart procedures.

In order to drive up their own profits.

It revolves around HCA.

Health care.

The largest hospital operator and all the country a nurse -- one of those hospitals reportedly blew the whistle on the company and an internal memo the New York Times obtained.

HC -- seems to admit it was in the wrong and that the nurse is right.

Quoting the memo here the allegations related to unnecessary procedures being performed in the -- lab are substantiated.

But then that -- lost his job in what in what he calls retaliation for raising a red flag.

What does not doctor Arthur Caplan he -- the division of medical ethics at New York university's -- -- medical center.

Surgeries for profit whether people need them or not not a new headline but this seems pretty significant.

It's significant because you've got how long pattern of this behavior probably over the years.

Major operations heart Catherine stations -- going into people and their risky.

So one relationship right away is did the hospital go back and tell people who -- unnecessary operations.

You need to know that this has happened to you some of the may have been injured or harmed so far we don't have any evidence that they did.

It's I mean under under your code of conduct this nurse did exactly the right thing -- -- the right thing and that nurses hero.

Spoke up it's always tough to be the whistle blower when people come to me and say -- -- -- about blown the whistle on somebody asked them.

You ready to be unemployed because of backlash even when people say that I'm gonna retaliate even if it's legal.

It can be right there -- so.

A very righteous -- in terms of speaking up about this reporting something that is clearly illegal and absolutely unethical.

It's not something for which you can be fire can't be fired and ultimately there's going to be settlement here and I think the nurse is gonna come out okay.

There's also some incentives to do whistle blowing federal government pays a certain percentage if they -- bilked out of money you and I taxpayer money because of unnecessary procedures so I'm not in the long term worry too much about this because.

That -- has been vindicated is there a big picture read on how many unnecessary surgeries happen.

You know it's not frequent and -- common but you've got a system that rewards by procedure and so you can sort of was always there when in doubt.

Do -- -- when in -- do the procedure.

We're in a situation where doctors afraid of getting sued if they don't do things that tends to lead into over utilized.

I'll tell you this one thing I've learned is.

Little hospital.

Big time surgery that too many people looking over your shoulder you look at the hospitals in Florida this happened that's a warning -- you won a second opinion.

You want to make sure that you asked questions about is this necessary but smaller the place.

The -- the people are watching over the sold children against is I'm gonna do this get a second opinion get a second opinion.

Doctor Caplan thank you well.

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