Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare recently responded to a civil lawsuit filed by two cardiologists who claim they were fired from their leadership positions at Detroit Medical Center for raising concerns about quality of care and patient safety, according to local NPR news station Michigan Radio.
In October, Amir Kaki, MD, and Mahir Elder, MD, were asked to step down from their leadership positions at Detroit Medical Center. In March, the pair sued DMC and its parent company, Tenet, alleging they were ousted from their leadership positions for reporting problems affecting patient care.
Lawyers representing Tenet and DMC denied those claims in an April 17 response to the complaint. They say the physicians' directorship agreements were terminated for failure to follow Tenet's standards of conduct.
The response details a number of complaints senior managers at DMC and Tenet allegedly received regarding Drs. Kaki and Elder. The physicians allegedly missed procedures they were responsible for performing, billed for services performed by less experienced physicians and had "undisclosed financial relationships with medical device vendors," according to the response to the complaint.
"There were also multiple complaints about plaintiffs' poor interpersonal communications, bullying, yelling, screaming, and other inappropriate communications, which could only be described as abuse of coworkers, staff, and fellow service providers," states the response.
Tenet and DMC are requesting the case be dismissed. They say Drs. Kaki and Elder signed agreements that require them to arbitrate any claims arising out of their professional service contracts with DMC and Tenet.
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