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13, 2019 • $1.50
WEDNESDA
W
E DNESD
D A Y • November
Traffic
may
slow in
Union
■ Council votes to
purchase radar
speed sign
Good day to our valued subscriber Kent Hug of La Grande
GRANDE RONDE HOSPITAL
UNDER SCRUTINY:
Former La Grande cardiologist accused
of implanting unnecessary pacemakers
By Dick Mason
The Observer
More motor vehicle driv-
ers in Union may soon fi nd
themselves easing off their
accelerators.
The Union City Council
voted Tuesday night to have
the city purchase a radar
speed sign for $3,265. The
portable sign will display the
speeds vehicles are traveling
and will serve two purposes
— slow drivers down by alert-
ing them of their speed and
collect traffi c data.
The data will indicate how
frequently drivers exceed
the speed limit, the average
speed traveled, traffi c volume
and more, said City of Union
Administrator Doug Wig-
gins. The sign, which will
be powered by rechargeable
batteries, will be attached to
posts and easy to move.
Union Mayor Leonard
Flint supported the pur-
chase of the sign, noting
that it would help the city
crack down on speeders. He
explained that the city, using
data from the radar sign,
would be able to recommend
that the Union County
Sheriff’s Offi ce patrol certain
areas.
It was suggested at the
meeting that the council
might be wise to purchase
two radar signs instead of
one. Flint though said this
would not be necessary
considering how portable the
sign will be. He also said he
believes the city should see
how successful one sign is
before it purchases a second.
In other matters at Tues-
day’s meeting, the council
discussed the status of the
home buildings at the old
Union ranger station. The
ranger station, near the
northwest edge of town, was
built in 1937 and deeded to
the City of Union in 1993.
The ranger station has a
four-bedroom house, a three-
bedroom house, a two-bed-
room house, an old oil stor-
age building, a barn, a utility
building, a utility garage and
See Union / Page 5A
Andrew Cutler/EO Media Group
A recently unsealed federal whistleblower lawsuit claimed that a longtime Portland-area cardiologist, Emilia Arden, implanted more
than 100 patients with unnecessary pacemakers at La Grande’s Grande Ronde Hospital.
By Nick Budnick, Portland Tribune
PORTLAND — A recently unsealed federal whistleblower lawsuit claimed that a longtime
Portland-area cardiologist, Emilia Arden, implanted more than 100 patients with unnecessary
pacemakers at Grande Ronde Hospital in Eastern Oregon.
The whistleblower dropped the case late last
that Medicare was reimbursed for potentially inap-
month, however, leaving unanswered questions in
propriate surgeries. Ford said the hospital investi-
its wake about whether the allegations were true.
gated but the fi ndings are confi dential.
The lawyer who fi led the case says those questions
“After concerns were raised regarding pace-
should be answered.
maker implants, the hospital voluntarily
“These are some of the most egregious
performed an internal investigation,” she
allegations in a (whistleblower suit) that
wrote. “That investigation is covered by
I’ve seen,” said Jason T. Brown, a former FBI
Oregon’s peer review privilege. Dr. Arden
agent whose New Jersey law practice spe-
is no longer employed by the hospital. The
cializes in whistleblower cases in which the
hospital issued certain Medicare reimburse-
Arden
plaintiff can collect a percentage of money
ment refunds.”
recouped by the federal government.
The suit alleged that Arden was “induced”
Brown fi led the case on behalf of Kathy On-
by gifts such as free travel from device maker sales
wezen, a cardiology nurse practitioner who worked representatives.
at Grande Ronde Hospital in La Grande. She
Worked in Portland area
dropped the case after federal offi cials determined
Before working at Grande Ronde Hospital, Ar-
the hospital already had refunded Medicare for
den worked in Portland, Hillsboro and Beaverton
any inappropriate surgery reimbursements, limit-
for a decade. She had staff privileges to perform
ing the suit’s ability to recoup funds, according to
surgeries at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center
Brown.
in southwest Portland from 2007 to 2015 and
“I think anybody who was seen by this doctor
implanted “lots” of pacemakers there, according to
should be notifi ed” and consult with an indepen-
a Grande Ronde Hospital newsletter.
dent cardiologist, Brown said. “If someone got
In Portland, she appears to have worked with
an unnecessary heart operation, then from my
the same device maker sales representatives she
perspective they deserve compensation.”
later did at Grande Ronde. The sales reps often at-
Arden, 60, the cardiologist named in the suit,
tend surgeries to provide technical support.
did not respond to requests for comments. Nor did
“Both reps had worked with her (at St. Vincent)
Onwezen.
before, so that was very helpful,” a nurse said in an
In an email, Mardi Ford, the hospital’s com-
article in the Grande Ronde Hospital newsletter
munications director, substantiated signifi cant
See Scrutiny / Page 5A
elements of the lawsuit as well as Brown’s account
Other cases
Allegations of bribes and
kickbacks to promote sales
have plagued device manufac-
turers over the last decade.
In 2014, for instance, Bio-
tronik, a German fi rm whose
U.S. headquarters are in Lake
Oswego, paid a $4.9 million
settlement to the federal gov-
ernment over alleged kick-
backs. Biotronik was named in
the Arden lawsuit. In 2011, St.
Jude — a subsidiary of Abbott
also named in the suit — paid
$16 million to settle a federal
probe of alleged kickbacks to
doctors.
And the Oregon Department
of Justice sued two Salem
doctors for failing to notify pa-
tients they had received special
payments for using Biotronik
products. The device manufac-
turers have consistently denied
wrongdoing.
— Nick Budnick,
Portland Tribune
“After concerns were raised regarding pacemaker implants, the hospital
voluntarily performed an internal investigation. That investigation is covered by
Oregon’s peer review privilege. Dr. Arden is no longer employed by the hospital.
The hospital issued certain Medicare reimbursement refunds.”
— Mardi Ford, Grande Ronde Hospital communications director
WEATHER
INDEX
Business ...... 1B
Classified ..... 3B
Comics ......... 7B
Crossword ... 5B
Dear Abby .... 8B
Horoscope ... 5B
Lottery.......... 2A
Obituaries .... 3A
FRIDAY
Opinion ........ 4A
Sports .......... 6A
Sudoku ........ 7B
Weather ....... 8B
LEGO ROBOTICS CLUB
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Thursday
32 LOW
55/31
Partly cloudy
Partly sunny
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More contact info on Page 4A.
Issue 135
3 sections, 26 pages
La Grande, Oregon
Online at lagrandeobserver.com