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In late 2020, St. Peter Hospital in Helena, Montana took the extraordinary step of firing oncologist Dr. Thomas C. Weiner and publicly accusing the patient of hurting them. The hospital said doctors overprescribing drugs and giving chemotherapy to patients who are not suffering from cancer.
Despite being notified by St. Peter that he had revoked Weiner’s privileges, the Montana Diagnostics Committee renewed its licenses in 2021 and 2023. This week, the board renewed its license again for two more years.
Questions about whether Weiner will be allowed to continue to intensify after a December Propublica investigation exposed the patient’s harm trajectory and the trajectory of suspicious deaths related to his practice. Relying on thousands of pages of court records and numerous interviews, the study details how Weiner built a massive amount of businesses that claim public and private insurance as much as possible, with many of his patients receiving unnecessary, dangerous or substandard care.
It is unclear what the Medical Board considered before renewing Weiner’s license, but the investigation released by Propublica and Montana Free Press attracted the attention of law enforcement agencies. Montana Department of Justice Criminal Investigators launched an official investigation this month, according to three sources directly involved in the issue.
Weiner denied abuse of the patient. He did not respond to requests for comment regarding the Montana Department of Justice’s investigation, as his license has been renewed.
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After St. Peter fired Weiner, he sued the hospital for unlawful dismissal and defamation. After four years of legal battle, the Montana Supreme Court took sides with the hospital in this month’s ruling. The court wrote that the hospital’s peer review process leading to Weiner’s dismissal was “reasonable and guaranteed due to Weiner’s inadequate patient care amount and severity.”
After fired Weiner, the hospital examined files of more than 2,000 patients who had prescribed controlled substances. Court records show that a medical examiner hired at St. Peters highlighted the case of Sharon Dibble, a 75-year-old patient who died shortly after Weiner doubled his morphine prescription. The increase in morphine “leaded to respiratory arrest and patient ends,” a medical expert employed by St. Peter concluded.
Dibble’s son, Tom Steveson, called on the Medical Board’s decision to “silly” Weiner’s license.
“There’s too much evidence against him to point out the misconduct and to recklessly save this man,” he said, referring to the hospital allegations and Propobrica’s report. “I believe he should be held responsible.”
Weiner previously denied allegations that he was overprescribed by patients, including Dibble, and was critical of medical reviews.
In the months since Weiner was fired, thousands of friends and former patients formed a Facebook group in support of him. They raised funds to borrow a sign from Helena, and “We’re standing with DR. Weiner.” On Tuesday, Dana Schwartz, who led the effort, posted on Facebook, “Congratulations to Doc on renewing our license!!”
A spokesman for the state’s Medical Examination Board introduced a request for comment on Weiner’s license renewal to its umbrella agency, Montana Department of Labor and Industry. The agency spokesman did not respond to questions prior to publication.
St. Peters did not respond to requests for comment regarding Weiner’s license renewal.
“Eat what you kill”
The Medical Board will not generally publish information about current or past investigations unless it demonstrates allegations of professional misconduct. If so, you can suspend or revoke your physician’s license for many reasons, including claim fraud, professional prescribing practices, and failure to properly document patient care.
The criminal investigation, led by the Montana Attorney General’s Office, comes just months after the federal government settles with St. Peters to make false claims when it claims a government health program for Weiner’s services. The hospital agreed to pay back $10.8 million. The hospital previously provided quality care, saying, “This situation is isolated from a single former doctor and we are confident in the exceptional care provided by St. Peter’s medical staff.”
Federal prosecutors also sued Weiner and sued him of fraudulent practices, including asking him to request unnecessary or more expensive treatments for federal insurance programs. Weiner denied the claim and acted through his lawyer to dismiss the case.
