Orthopedic surgeon Paul Mason, M.D. and Buffalo Bone and Joint, PLLC have filed a $24.7 million lawsuit against Wyoming County, Wyoming County Community Hospital, Wyoming Community Health System, Rebecca Ryan, Bryan Kehl, and Jerry Davis.
Orthopedic Surgeon Sues NY Health System for $24.7M
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Dr. Mason is the managing member of Buffalo Bone and Joint. Ryan, Kehl, and Davis are all members of Wyoming County’s Board of Supervisors.
The allegations include the following: defamation; breach of contract by Wyoming County Community Hospital; retaliation by Wyoming County Community Hospital; and violation of New York Labor Law by Wyoming County Community Hospital. Mason is claiming at least $1 million in damages for the defamation claim and at least $7.9 million for each of the other claims.
In the complaint, Dr. Mason details his relationship with Wyoming County Community Hospital and the other parties. Per the complaint, in 2014 Dr. Mason and the orthopedic group he was a part of at the time, began contracting with Wyoming County Community Hospital to provide orthopedic services. Dr. Mason claims that thanks to this relationship, Wyoming County Community Hospital experienced an increase in surgical volume, hospital quality ratings, provider patient satisfaction rankings, and overall community support.
In 2017, Dr. Mason was given the title of chief medical officer at Wyoming County Community Hospital. At the same time, he formed Buffalo Bone and Joint. He claims this was to provide expanded orthopedic services to Wyoming County Community Hospital. Dr. Mason claims that during his time with the hospital, it continued to be profitable, experienced an increase in surgical volume, and maintained high patient satisfaction scores.
Dr. Mason alleges that the issues seemed to begin in 2020 when the hospital appointed a new CEO, Joseph McTernan (who passed away in 2022). He claims that McTernan criticized him and Buffalo Bone and Joint’s contract with the hospital. He also alleges that McTernan made false claims about the financial results of the relationship between Buffalo Bone and Joint and the hospital.
In late 2020, the hospital and Dr. Mason were informed that a hospital physician had allegedly been performing operations in “what appeared to be an intoxicated or impaired condition.” Dr. Mason later reported the incident to the New York State Office of Professional Medical Conduct. He claims this increased the retaliation against him.
In early 2022, Dr. Mason alleges that the hospital prematurely terminated its agreement with Buffalo Bone and Joint. Dr. Mason asserts that the hospital falsely claimed the termination was for cause. He argues that he was terminated in retaliation for reporting the allegedly impaired surgeon.
Dr. Mason also claims that after the termination, a number of false statements were made about him to the public by members of Wyoming County’s Board of Supervisors. He claims these false statements were made to falsely justify the termination.
As of the date of this article, the other parties have not yet filed a response.
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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