Propublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates power abuse. Sign up and receive the biggest story as soon as it’s published.
Since at least April 2021, the Montana Medical Licensing Board has learned evidence that popular Helena oncologist Dr. Thomas C. Weiner injured and potentially killed patients. However, during that time, the board renewed his medical license – twice.
Weiner oversaw St. Peter’s Health’s cancer centre for 24 years before being fired in 2020, accusing him of overprescribing drugs, treating people who do not involve chemotherapy and providing substandard care. Denied the allegations, Weiner was the subject of a Propublica investigation in December, revealing recorded trajectories of patient harm and at least 10 suspicious deaths. Many of the records cited in this story have been in medical board custody for nearly four years, St. Peters recently confirmed.
The Health Checkup Committee renewed Weiner’s medical license in March 2023 and this month, allowing patients to be treated and prescribed medication. Attorneys for the state agency that oversees the medical board have collected records from the hospital under a subpoena that includes a medical review that criticized Weiner’s care, but the investigation suffered at the staff level, according to one current board member. It is unclear why Weiner’s case was not promoted to a board member appointed as governor.
Sam Lovigge, a spokesman for the Ministry of Labor and Industry, is the board’s umbrella agent and did not answer a list of email questions, including whether records provided by the hospital were reviewed by board members.
Kathleen Abke, a lawyer representing St. Peters, told Propobrica and the Montana Free Press that the hospital initially surrendered to the Licensing Committee in a 160,000-page document relating to the care of 64 patients. The state received these records in early 2021, just months after Weiner was fired.
What we see
During Donald Trump’s second presidency, Propovica will focus on areas that need scrutiny. Below are some of the issues reporters watch, and how to safely communicate with them.
We are doing something new. Helpful?
As part of the subpoena, St. Peters provided Scott Warwick’s medical records in 2009, who diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. The autopsy that St. Peter said he gave to the Medical Board after Warwick died in 2020 found no evidence of cancer. Weiner claimed the patient had terminal cancer for 11 years, and said pathologists and postmortem medical examiners missed the disease.
Scott’s widow, Lisa Warwick, sued St. Peter for his illegal death and settled for a private amount. Warwick learned this month from Propublica and Montana Free Press that the state has had her husband’s records and other evidence for years. She called the situation “cary.”
“I want to know what information they are reviewing, as they shake up this man’s resolve to renew his license,” she said. “If they’re really at work, reviewing these things and seeing all the cases brought about – the dead people, seeing the situation they’ve died, there’s no way they can justify renewing this man’s license.”
Anthony Olson, another Weiner patient who suffered inappropriate chemotherapy for nearly a decade, expressed shock when Montana regulators learned in 2021 that he had information about his case. Three biopsies confirmed that Olson was free from cancer, according to court and medical records. That chemotherapy produced severe health complications for Olson.
“So they really don’t care?” Olson asked. “It gives me a shaking effect. My heart race, and I literally don’t know what to feel right now.”
Weiner accused other doctors of misdiagnosis of Olson, but admitted that he had been “unnecessarily” toxic treatment.
In Montana, medical licenses are renewed every two years. A few months after the board renewed Weiner’s license in 2023, the staff were summoned to the hospital for additional records. Abke is St. Peter’s said he provided thousands of more internal documents and medical reviews to the board. However, she said none of the hospital was called by the committee to testify about Weiner’s practices.
St. Peters confirmed that the second tranche includes medical records of Nadine Long, a 16-year-old girl, as shown by court and medical records. Weiner denied any misconduct in the incident. He claimed that the girl’s condition is terminal and said he offers comfort.
According to records and interviews, St. Peters also reported Weiner had been removed by the National Practitioner Data Bank, warning the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency of alleged drug enforcement.
“We’ve provided information to all entities who have the ability to do something about this,” Abke says. “St. Peters took these allegations very seriously.”
Dr. James Burkholder, a member of the Medical Licensing Committee from 2016 to 2023, told Propublica and Montana Free Press that Weiner’s name “never appeared” during the board’s deliberations. Burkholder, a retired family doctor from Helena, said he was confident that Weiner was expertly aware and rejected himself, and that the case had not reached board level. He also served as a screening subcommittee, which was initially reviewed Weiner’s state investigation and was entrusted with passing it to the full board and being awarded.
Dr. Carly Robertson, a current board member, said she had never heard of Weiner.
It is unclear how many complaints have been filed against Weiner, as the Medical Board retains information about cases that have not been proven confidential. Propublica and Montana Free Press confirmed that at least one licensing complaint against Weiner, filed in 2021, has been pending for three years before being rejected in December.
Marilyn Ketchum’s husband passed away while caring for Weiner. After reviewing her husband’s medical records, she brought concerns about Weiner to the Medical Licensing Board. Credit: Melyssa St. Michael of Propublica
A few months after reading local news reports that Weiner had been fired by St. Peter, Marilyn Ketchum decided to act on concerns about her husband, Sean Ketchum, who passed away in 2016 while caring for Weiner. After reviewing his medical records, she told the board that Weiner had changed her husband’s code status without permission. If his heart stopped, he wanted to be the perfect code, she said. Instead, when he was rushed to the hospital, Weiner claimed that Ketchum was a DNR/DNI – not resuscitated, and not intubated – his medical records show. Records show that Ketchum died without intervention immediately.
In an internal review of Weiner’s Care, St. Peter argued that unilaterally changing a patient’s code status was his “standard practice” and called a “serious violation of standard care and medical ethics.” Weiner did not respond to questions about Ketchum’s case and denied changing the patient’s condition without permission.
Ketchum, who now lives in Arkansas, said he didn’t interview her until two years after a state employee filed a complaint about Weiner’s license. “I was on their ass to do something about it,” Ketchum said.
In a letter sent in late 2024, the board did not explain why it rejected her complaint.
Weiner says he is currently not treating patients because he is unable to take out fraud insurance.
Following the Propublica investigation released in December, the Montana Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into Weiner, according to three people with first-hand knowledge of the case. Weiner has not been charged with a crime. In separate cases last year, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Weiner and the hospital, claiming it had fraudulent federal healthcare programs. The hospital settled at $10.8 million. Weiner denied the motion through his lawyer and petitioned the court to dismiss the trial.
“Eat what you kill”
Last month, Weiner lost his annual courtroom appeal against his firing. The Montana Supreme Court ruled that the hospital’s actions were “reasonable and guaranteed due to the amount and severity of Weiner’s inappropriate patient care.”
Still, since Weiner was fired, many Helena residents have continued to protect him, including funding a sign that declares “We Stand withdr. Weiner.” Weiner supporters, who often cite his renewed medical license, accused him of organizing smear campaigns against committed oncologists. Since the winter of 2020, they have been holding protests outside the hospital.
Abke said many St. Peter’s employees are tired of the blows from Weiner supporters and are working to regain their trust in Helena. Asked about concerns that the hospital had unfairly targeted Weiner, Abke said he “don’t want to take the hospital, the PR, or the personal hit for no reason.”
