Three Texas Medical Center institutions have agreed to pay a record $15 million settlement to resolve claims they billed for concurrent heart surgeries in violation of Medicare teaching physician and informed consent regulations, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center (BSLMC), Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and Surgical Associates of Texas P.A. (SAT) are the three institutions that have agreed to the settlement.Court records show an investigation into the intuitions and three of its surgeons began in August of 2019 when a whistleblower filed a complaint.“Well it became apparent looking at the document that there was a whistleblower who was inside, looking at the organization and seeing that these very prominent doctors were going from operating room to operating and even to another operating room and charging for doing the complete procedure when they could not have done the complete procedure, just from a pure time standpoint but they certified that they did those procedures and that’s what the government alleged, and whistleblower alleged,” said Attorney Randy SorrelsThose prominent surgeons named in court documents include Dr. Joseph Coselli, 71, Houston, and Dr. Joseph Lamelas, 63, Miami, Florida. SAT is a medical practice group affiliated with various cardiothoracic surgeons, including Dr. David Ott, 77, HoustonThe U.S. attorney’s office said the allegations also included the doctors delegating key aspects of extremely complicated and risky heart surgeries to unqualified medical residents.and failing to attend the surgical “timeout”— a critical moment where the entire team would pause and identify key risks to prevent surgical errors, according to the allegations,”“Yeah, These are some of the most well known heart surgeons in the country and so students would come to Baylor to learn from the very best, and they would be putting their hands literally inside the chest of patients. And you should have the attending physician there, But the allegations are as they weren't there and present at all times,” Sorrels said.Sorrels said it’s important that patients know, they can try and keep that from happening by advocating for themselves.What you want to do as a patient, especially before you go under anesthesia, is let it be known in the paperwork, Only the attending physician, the doctor that, you know, does the entire procedure,” said Sorrels.KPRC 2 also asked Sorrels if there’s anything that can be done if you’re a former patient and believe your life was put at risk.“Yeah, Texas law is not very patient friendly. The allegations were between 2013 and 2019. And Texas law requires you to bring a claim against a doctor within two years. So if you didn't bring your claim by 2021 at the latest, you can't bring a claim against any of these doctors or Baylor itself,” said Sorrels.Sorrels added that after examining the settlement it appears nobody would be criminally charged.“This $15 million payments is to settle all issues,” Sorrels said.

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HOUSTON – Texas Medical Center officials held a news conference Monday to discuss COVID-19 vaccine distribution preparedness, storage and distribution strategies, coordination with city, county and state officials, and the continued importance of non-vaccine prevention methods for slowing the spread of COVID-19. A video of the news conference will be added to this story as soon as it is processed.

HOUSTON – Houston-area hospitals are making preparations to receive the first allocation of the COVID-19 vaccine. Nearly 60,000 doses of the vaccine are expected to be distributed to hospitals in the coming days. The decision on the number of doses was based on a survey of the number of COVID-19 patients treated, hospitalized and the number of employees treating patients with COVID-19, according to Memorial Hermann President Dr. David Callender. Twenty-one hospitals in Harris County, four in Montgomery County, one in Galveston County and one in Fort Bend County were selected to receive the vaccine. The Michael E. Debakey VA Medical Center was among those to be selected, including just one of the 37 VA hospitals picked.

HOUSTON – As the country anxiously awaited approval for the COVID-19 vaccine, healthcare workers on the frontlines at the Texas Medical Center were making plans. I directly take care of COVID-19 patients. Considering she works directly with COVID-19 patients, she believes the vaccine is important to get. Hatfield said, for now, she plans to wait on getting vaccinated citing concerns about the speed at which the vaccine was produced along with any possible risks. I’m tired FaceTiming families who can’t come in even people who don’t have COVID-19 can’t have visitors,” Rao said.

HOUSTON – The Texas Medical Center offers some of the best advancements in medicine. “If your treatment is for two months, three months, four months, six months, that just adds to the financial stress of being sick,” said Yannick Thomas, founder of Patient Housing Assistance (PHA). Ronald McDonald House - HoustonHope Lodge is for cancer patientsHope Cancer Retreat is located in Splendora for cancer patients. Nora’s Home is located in the Texas Medical Center for transplant patients and their families. In Spirit Patient Housing provides affordable apartments to people traveling to the Texas Medical Center for medical treatment and their friends or families.

HOUSTON – President Donald Trump is said to be improving according to the medical staff at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center but questions about his health remain. During his battle with the coronavirus, the president has been given an antibody cocktail, a second dose of Remdesivir and a steroid therapy, which is used in more severe COVID cases. El Sahly said the steroid therapy is known as Dexamethasone and has been used in less severe cases as of lately. “I see clinicians in milder cases, although the data is not as solid there,” El Sahly said. Dexamethasone works by reducing inflammation in and around the lungs but like with many steroid therapies there are risks involved.

HOUSTON – Building on seven months of extensive data gathering, analysis and publication, the Texas Medical Center is updating its public dashboards to provide user-friendly information in tracking COVID-19 in greater Houston. The dashboard highlights the reproduction rate (rate at which COVID-19 is being spread), testing trends, number of overall positive cases, and ICU bed capacity, among other topics. KPRC 2 uses this information to keep news reports up-to-date for the nine counties the TMC serves. “There is no delay in the TMC data so when you look at testing data, positivity rate, people being hospitalized, you’re getting real-time data,” said Dr. Mark Boom, with Houston Methodist Hospital. President and CEO of TMC, Bill McKeon, said the real-time data shows proof when social distancing has worked.

HOUSTON – One Texas family is not giving up on seeing their loved one at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. This health battle has been tough for the Swearingen family. One Texas family is not giving up on seeing their loved one at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. At Texas Children’s our highest priority is the health and safety of those we serve. We need our families' assistance and support in protecting our patients, families and caregivers by following our visitation restrictions.

HOUSTON You can tell which nurses are members of the elite Rapid Response Team at Baylor St. Lukes Medical Center because they wear red scrubs instead of the regular blue. One doctor called them the nursing ninjas.The 12-person team can monitor every patient in the hospital remotely from the Rapid Response Team room. KPRC 2 followed the Rapid Response Team and made sure not to touch anything. Chris Howard, a mobile ICU doctor who works with the Rapid Response Team, discussed the worst-case scenarios. But medically speaking, its a disease we have literally never seen before.The rapid response nurses are a lifeline at Baylor St. Lukes.

HOUSTON – Parking has become an unexpected financial burden for workers at the Texas Medical Center. KPRC 2 Investigates received several emails from medical personnel upset over having to pay to park in the TMC garages. But, parking serves as the primary revenue generator for the medical complex, the Chief Investment and Planning Officer Tatianna Yale said. "It has been a little hard for us, having to pay parking driving down here because you don't want to take the METRO," she said. Rice University and Methodist collaborated to open up a new free lot Thursday morning in the football stadium's parking lot.