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NMC's Insurer Settles Case With Former Orthopaedic Surgeon Northwestern Medical Center’s Board of Directors announced today that a settlement has been reached in the ongoing litigation involving Dr. Raymond Long. The terms of the settlement release the hospital and the eight additional named defendants from all claims made in Dr. Long’s $40 million dollar lawsuit. Medical Mutual of Maine, the hospital’s insurance carrier, made a business decision to provide a $4 million payment to Dr. Long and his attorneys to obtain closure on the long-standing litigation.
“While the NMC Board was not in favor of pursuing a settlement, our insurance carrier did not need our approval to proceed,” said John Casavant, Chairman of the NMC Board of Directors. “We understand and respect Medical Mutual of Maine’s efforts to end what has been a lengthy and burdensome distraction to the local health care community.”
For the past three years, Medical Mutual of Maine has covered the legal expenses of the four law firms representing NMC and the eight additional named defendants. In making its decision to come to a settlement, the insurance carrier took into consideration that a protracted legal process might have taken years and cost millions of additional dollars.
“The cost of litigation is precisely why we have insurance,” said Casavant. “It’s important the community understand that our insurance premiums have protected us and that Medical Mutual of Maine has stood by us throughout this entire process.”
Dr. Long resigned his active staff privileges in orthopedic surgery at NMC in April of 2004. In a press release following his resignation, Dr. Long’s attorney alleged that Northwestern Medical Center was involved in the “intentional contamination of patients” during three of Dr. Long’s surgical cases in December of 2003. The release further alleged that NMC “intended to force him [Dr. Long] out of the hospital and the community.”
The Vermont Attorney General’s Office investigated and no evidence of intentional contamination or criminal wrong doing was found. Northwestern Medical Center was subsequently surveyed by the Vermont Department of Health, the Center for Medicare Services, and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, all of whom found no evidence to support Dr. Long’s allegations. Similarly, Dr. Long’s complaints against several members of NMC’s medical staff were investigated by the Vermont Board of Medical Practice and dismissed.
“Our position on these matters has never changed,” said Casavant. “The NMC Board of Directors has been, and remains, fully supportive of how our nurses, physicians, and administration handled matters relating to Dr. Long during his tenure at Northwestern Medical Center.”
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