A large, patient-funded billboard in Helena, Mont., reads: "We Support Dr. Tom Weiner," the former oncologist at St. Peter's Health who was fired for allegedly harming cancer patients, according to Medscape.
The sign costs $750 per month and is funded entirely by cancer patients and locals, who raised $5,000 in support of Tom Weiner, MD. After working with St. Peter's Health for 24 years, Dr. Weiner was removed from his position as the center's sole oncologist in November 2020.
The health system said Dr. Weiner caused harm via clinically unnecessary treatments, failure to follow narcotic prescription laws, failure to refer patients to other specialists for appropriate treatments and failure to meet clinical documentation requirements, according to a letter penned by Wade Johnson, CEO of St. Peter's Health, and published by the Independent Record.
Dr. Weiner has no official record of patient harm with the state's Board of Medical Examiners, reports Medscape.
The oncologist's supporters are performing a continuous stream of activism, including weekly protests outside St. Peter's. Dr. Weiner doesn't participate or receive any money raised by his supporters.
Dr. Weiner has sued the medical center, seeking damages in a jury trial set for 2022.
Patients of Dr. Weiner filed a class-action lawsuit Nov. 13, claiming they weren't notified when St. Peter's dismissed Dr. Weiner, resulting in gaps in their care. A judge dismissed the case early this year, saying the claims must first be filed with the state's medical legal panel.
"We currently have three locum tenens medical oncologists and hematologists," Kathryn Gallagher, spokesperson for St. Peter's, told Medscape.
The center is "working closely with Huntsman Cancer Institute [in Utah] to operationalize our affiliation and recruit permanent medical oncologists to St. Peter's," Ms. Gallagher said.