Researchers warned that patients may be undergoing vascular procedures too soon or unnecessarily. ProPublica and CareSet examined federal data to better understand how one treatment is being used.
After Dr. Caitlin Hicks and her team revealed that some doctors appeared to be overusing lucrative vascular procedures, performing them on patients who may not have needed them, they received hostile pushback from across the profession.
A new analysis of Medicare claims by ProPublica and CareSet found that atherectomies, a procedure to treat vascular disease, were performed on about 30,000 patients who had questionable need for them.
Medical boards, a health department and even federal investigators have scrutinized Dr. James McGuckin’s vascular clinics. Today he still practices, despite a decadelong string of sanctions, fines and lawsuits.