A recent decision highlights what can go terribly wrong for the government in a prosecution against a cardiologist for improper heart stenting, even after a jury verdict.
In the prosecution against Dr. Richard Paulus, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky alleged that Dr. Paulus, a cardiologist, had falsely recorded stenosis1 as at least 70 percent for specific patients to insert stents in patients’ arteries2 in violation of 18 U.S.C. Section 1347.3 Further, the government alleged that Dr. Paulus made “materially fictitious statements” when he caused entries in medical records reflecting a percentage of stenosis that he knew was substantially less than the amount recorded, in violation of 18 U.S.C. Section 1035.4