Bangor-based Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical is refuting patient safety claims made by a 15-year-old and his mother, once a physician at the facility, and has put the mother on notice for defamation.
In June 2022, the hospital fired Anne Yered, MD, a pediatric intensive care physician. Dr. Yered alleges she was wrongfully terminated for voicing patient safety concerns and tried to resolve the claims without litigation in January, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a free-speech advocacy group defending the family. The hospital, meanwhile, denies the allegations.
"While EMMC cannot comment on the threatened suit [by Dr. Yered for wrongful termination] or the reasons for Dr. Yered's separation, we strongly deny any suggestion or allegation that Dr. Yered was terminated because she reported or raised safety-related concerns," Suzanne Spruce, chief marketing and communications officer at the hospital, told Becker's.
After Dr. Yered was fired, her then-14-year-old son, Samson Cournane, contacted hospital personnel "attempting to speak with them regarding topics that included issues germane to his mother's threatened claims, without disclosing his connection to his mother," Ms. Spruce said.
Mr. Cournane told Becker's he attempted to meet with hospital administrators about his concerns but the meeting was canceled.
In an Aug. 23 letter to the hospital sent on behalf of the mother and son, FIRE said her son was doing his own research and "found that news articles and watchdog reports showed a troubling pattern of safety issues at his local hospital."
The hospital refutes all the patient safety claims, citing its accreditation by The Joint commission and its "A" rating from The Leapfrog Group. Ms. Spruce said, "Patient safety is EMMC's first priority [and] understands that every day patients place their trust in EMMC. [The hospital] takes this responsibility very seriously."
In September, Samson created a change.org petition outlining some of the alleged patient safety concerns and calling for a state investigation, according to FIRE. The organization also said that Samson in October wrote a letter to the editor in the University of Maine campus newspaper that made more claims about the safety of the hospital and encouraged students to sign the petition. In response, EMMC threatened to sue Dr. Yered for defamation, saying the hospital "reasonably believed [the author of the petition and letter] to be Dr. Yered or acting at Dr. Yered's direction."
FIRE's letter demanded the hospital retract the litigation threat, claiming Samson's actions are protected by the First Amendment. The hospital disagrees and said the patient safety claims are unfounded and therefore not protected by the Constitution.
"EMMC supports individuals' rights to speak out in any forum about issues of public concern, including healthcare and patient safety," Ms. Spruce said. "That right is not without limit, however. Factually unsupported and demonstrably false assertions that are designed to unfairly undermine the public's trust and that cause actual harm, like those at issue here, may be challenged through legal means."