WARREN Patients sought for suit

The attorney thinks there were about 7,734 patients at the hospital over the 22-month span.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Wanted: 3,691 people who were patients at Warren General Hospital between April 29, 1993, and June 6, 1995.
Atty. Dennis Tackett said the hospital released confidential information about patients to a legal firm. He filed a $240 million lawsuit in July 1995 on behalf of some of the patients.
The suit is pending.
The law firm wanted the records in an effort to determine if there were patients eligible to have their hospital bills paid by the Social Security Administration.
The search: Tackett thinks there were about 7,734 patients at the hospital during that time. The hospital has since closed.
"The court mailed out 7,734 notices, but only about 4,000 have been served," Tackett said. "We had to go by the addresses we had at the time the person was admitted to the hospital. It's been six years; people could have gotten married or moved."
Court officials said they believe close to 4,000 have been served with the paperwork. Out of that amount, 3,455 former patients have received the notices and decided not to become part of the suit, officials noted.
Court officials also said 588 former patients have returned notices saying they did want to become part of the suit.
Tackett said there is a hearing Monday in which he will ask the judge if he can have more time to contact patients.
Tackett said the former patients will be asked if they want to become part of the suit.
"I think we may need to take out a legal ad or search for people on the Internet," Tackett said. "I think these people have a right to decide if they want to be part of the suit or not."
Visiting Judge Mary Cacioppo is presiding over the case in the Trumbull County Common Pleas Courthouse.
Judge Cacioppo ruled in 1996 that the hospital and a law firm violated no laws when attorneys pored over patient records.
Appeals court ruling: The 11th District Court of Appeals, however, reversed her decision in March 1998 and sent the case back.
Appeals Judge Donald Ford wrote in a 30-page ruling that Judge Cacioppo did not consider several items, including a request from the patients to a class-action lawsuit.
The patients contended that the hospital's practice of turning over patient registration forms to an Austintown law firm violated their privacy and state laws mandating that hospital records be kept confidential.
sinkovich@vindy.com