Retired Cardiologist ordered to Pay $3 Million to Former Patient for performing unnecessary Heart Surgeries

Munster, Indiana cardiologist Arvind Gandhi,accused of performing unnecessary heart surgeries on as many as 293 patients, has been ordered to pay $3 million to a female patient.

A Lake County, Indiana Superior Court jury deliberated for just two hours before determining that an Indian American cardiologist must pay out $3 million to a former patient on whom he performed unnecessary heart surgery.

Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed against the physician.

In this particular lawsuit – the second to go to trial – plaintiff Gloria Sargent alleged that Gandhi in 2006 had unnecessarily recommended getting a heart device implanted. She sued the physician and the Community Hospital in Munster where Gandhi practiced, alleging pain and suffering from the un-needed surgery.

A judge the following day dismissed the lawsuit against the hospital.

According to a report on the one of US  news site, Sargent, who had a history of heart problems, went to see Gandhi in 2006 after moving to Northwest Indiana from Florida. He recommended she upgrade her heart device, even though she had just had one implanted months earlier. Sargent agreed to the procedure.

In the first operation, Gandhi attempted to insert the new wiring to her heart but was unsuccessful in finding a vein, according to nwi.com. So he referred her to another surgeon who performed an open chest surgery.

The plaintiff testified that she was awake during that 98-minute procedure, experiencing so-called anesthesia awareness, which rendered her unable to move or talk despite being in extreme pain.

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