Spyros Panos: $140 million for medical malpractice victims
Nina Schutzman$140 million.
That's the combined settlement that 255 plaintiffs who sued Spyros Panos for medical malpractice are set to receive, according to attorney JT Wisell of Wisell & McGee, whose firm represented more than half of them.
Panos, a 50-year-old Hopewell Junction local — who has been accused of botching surgeries, doing unnecessary surgeries on healthy patients and more — will not admit to medical wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
The settlement amount, which was determined Feb. 15 by National Arbitration and Mediation, represents "total vindication for people who were lied to by Dr. Panos,” Wisell said.
For the 255 plaintiffs, the settlement will bring to an end the civil arm of a years-long legal battle that has played out in multiple courtrooms.
But it won't bring an end to the grief they have suffered.
Nearly nine years after losing her mother, Constance Nenni, to a post-operative complication, Debra Nenni McNamee said the pain hasn't gone away.
"There is no closure," McNamee said. "You can't say he was punished. He hurt people. My mother is dead because of him. Doctors take an oath to heal, not to hurt."
And, questions remain as to how the plaintiffs will receive payment, as "there is an insufficient amount of insurance coverage for every plaintiff to get fully paid, based on the arbitrator awards,” Wisell said.
Additional criminal charges pending
The disgraced former orthopedist served time for health care fraud and was released from federal prison in March 2017.
Panos was hit with more federal charges last year — health care fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
He is accused of stealing another physician’s identity to bill more than $860,000 for Workers’ Compensation case reviews that he was not licensed to perform — after his previous arrest and while serving a federal prison sentence for another health care fraud, according to the State Inspector General's Office and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Panos is free on $1 million bond, awaiting trial on electronic home monitoring, according to court records. He could not be reached for comment.
Panos pleaded guilty to one count of felony health care fraud in November 2013 and admitted to running a multi-million-dollar scheme that defrauded multiple health insurance providers. Some of the lawsuits date back to 2009.
"It was a very long process, with many difficult times," Wisell said. "The clients stuck by us and we are grateful they believed in us.“
Plaintiffs' awards to be determined
In his civil cases, claims are going to be paid by Medical Liability Mutual Insurance Company and Healthcare Professionals Insurance Company. An agreement in principle between plaintiffs and insurance companies was initially announced in February 2018, though at the time it was believed the total payout may reach $40 million.
Individual plaintiffs’ awards "range from $15,500 to $3.8 million," Wisell said. "The settlements do not have to be approved. We just need to work out the logistics of how and when the insurance carriers are going to pay."
Attorneys are in the process of "analyzing all the insurance coverage right now to determine exactly what everybody is entitled to," he added. "How the insurance coverage applies will determine how people will be paid.”
Wisell credited state Supreme Court Judge Paul Marx, "who worked tirelessly to put together the arbitration agreement that resolved the cases," along with appellate court Judge Peter Skelos of National Arbitration and Mediation.
McNamee said the resolution was not enough.
Nenni died at the age of 76, one day after Panos performed surgery on her. Nenni originally went in for arthroscopy, but was unnecessarily put under anesthetic, McNamee said. Nenni's autopsy report from the Orange County medical examiner states she died March 10, 2010, of a blood clot in the lung.
Panos used people as if they were "human cash registers," she added. "Every other crime, you pay for what you do wrong. I don’t feel that he has or will... it's his insurance (that will cover the settlement). Nothing has been taken from him. It's not fair. He did wrong. He should pay."
Nina Schutzman: nschutzman@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-451-4518, Twitter: @pojonschutzman
You may also be interested in:
Panos: New federal fraud charges for disgraced ex-surgeon
Panos cases end with settlement for 256 medical malpractice lawsuits