Federal Lawsuit Alleges UPMC Falsely Billed For Medical Procedures, Failed To Properly Obtain Patient Consent

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A new unsealed federal lawsuit is shedding light on some alarming allegations against the Pittsburgh-based health giant UPMC.

The federal lawsuit lists serious allegations, such as accusing physicians of not getting patient consent forms for surgeries or filing false medical claims.

The civil suit was filed in September 2019, but remained under seal until last month.

According to KDKA's news partners at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the lead plaintiffs in this lawsuit are the United States Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

CMS is is accusing UPMC of falsely billing them for procedures where there was no patient consent.

The co-plaintiff in this suit is Diana Zaldonis, who was a researcher at UPMC.

Zaldonis says she was dismissed from her job for reporting some of the surgeons.

According to the Post-Gazette, instead of talking with the patients themselves, the lawsuit suit says doctors had resident physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants obtain the patient consent.

Inside the lawsuit, it says that doing so is "in violation of federal and state law as well as UPMC policy."

The suit is requesting damages to the federal agencies as well as getting Zaldonis her job back with back pay.

The Post-Gazette reached out to UPMC for comment, but as of Tuesday morning, UPMC had not responded.