By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-09 17:41:48 | Updated at 2025-01-10 02:48:25
9 hours ago
Scot Warwick's family thought it was a miracle after he lived over a decade despite being diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer - a disease that kills up to 90 percent of patients within a few years.
But their feelings of hope turned to shock and anger when they discovered his cancer had been misdiagnosed and he needlessly underwent years of brutal chemotherapy and multiple surgeries and experimental therapies.
Ultimately Mr Warwick, a father of two from Montana, died in September 2020 at the age of 51 of lung failure.
An autopsy allegedly showed he had no cancer cells in his body at all and it was in fact gemcitabine (a chemotherapy drug) that had caused irreparable damage to his lungs.
Mr Warwick was diagnosed and treated by a doctor accused of putting other patients through hellish treatments for conditions that never existed.
An in-depth investigation by ProPublica claims that Mr Warwick was one of around 10 known patients who unnecessarily suffered at the hands of Dr Thomas Weiner, who was stationed at St. Peter's Health in Montana at the time.
He was fired shortly after Mr Warwick's death and hospital CEO Wade Johnson described the incident as the' tip of the iceberg', as there had been concerns about Dr Weiner bubbling away for some time.
The Warwick family sued St. Peter's for Mr Warwick's wrongful death and the case was eventually settled for an undisclosed amount.
Scot Warwick's family thought it was a miracle after he spent 11 years thriving despite being diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. But their feelings of hope turned to shock and anger when they discovered his cancer had been misdiagnosed
In her deposition, Mr Warwick's widow, Lisa, said: 'My children lost their father. I lost my husband. It wasn't quick. It was long. And it was torturous. And it was terrible. And I would never, ever wish that on anyone - ever.'
Like Mr Warwick, Anthony Olson was heartbroken when he was diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer called myelodysplastic syndrome by Dr Weiner in early 2011 when he was 33.
Mr Olson was told that without treatment, he would be dead before the end of the year. 'That diagnosis changed the direction of my life,' the now 47-year-old, told ProPublica.
With Dr Weiner acting as the director of St. Peter's cancer center, Mr Olson said he had no reason to doubt what he was told about his condition.
'I trusted that he was doing what was best for me,' the Montana resident said of Dr Weiner.
'I never really questioned that until someone else told me that there was reason to. I thought he was helping me.
'I actually felt pretty fortunate that we had such a gifted doctor in such a small community.'
Following his diagnosis, Mr Olson dropped out of college, moved back in with his parents and started the intensive treatment prescribed by Dr Weiner.
His regimen involved four days on chemotherapy and four weeks off.
This treatment pattern continued for nine years.
Ultimately Mr Warwick, a father of two, died in September 2020 at the age of 51 of lung failure. His wife Lisa was shocked when an autopsy suggested he had no cancer in his body
Dr Thomas Weiner has consistently denied any wrongdoing
While a second biopsy performed on Mr Olson ten months after his diagnosis came back negative, Dr Weiner told him to ignore it and told him it was because the treatment was working.
As a result of his chemotherapy, Mr Olson was hit by a range of severe side effects, including the loss of his teeth and chronic exhaustion.
It also worsened an iron deficiency that he had before his cancer diagnosis, and Dr Weiner placed him on weekly iron-rich blood transfusions.
Mr Olson and his family were left financially crippled by the cost of his treatments.
The average monthly cost of chemotherapy drugs alone can range from $1,000 to $12,000.
Mr Olson said: 'With the cost of treatments, [it was hard] to do anything. I was kind of just stuck.'
It was only in 2020, after Dr Weiner was fired, that Mr Olson had his case reviewed.
A biopsy ordered by the hospital came back negative and when medics decided to retest his first biopsy, that too showed that he never had blood cancer.
After the revelation, Mr Olson's cancer treatments were stopped in early 2021.
Like the Warwicks, he went on to sue St. Peter's for malpractice with the hospital paying an undisclosed amount.
Dr Weiner, whose salary topped $1 million while he worked at St Peter's, has been accused of profiteering off his patients.
At one point, he saw as many as 70 patients a day, and ProPublica notes that 'the more treatments and visits Weiner billed, the more money he made'.
However, the celebrated doctor has consistently denied any wrongdoing and he went on to sue the hospital for wrongful termination and defamation.
In other cases, the reporting alleges that Dr Weiner provided 'disturbingly high doses of barbiturates to facilitate death in seriously ill patients, when those patients may not have actually been close to death'.
The ProPublica report alleges that he also 'altered end of life plans without consulting patients, prescribed high doses of opioids to patients that did not need them, and often failed to document his work'.
A judge dismissed Dr Weiner's lawsuit and now his appeal remains pending with the state Supreme Court.
