August 18, 2005 | Read Time: 1 minute
Doctors at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in Houston are protesting a decision to name a medical tower after a prominent Texas lawyer, John O’Quinn, whose foundation donated $25-million.
As first reported by the Houston Chronicle, the doctors have signed a petition asking the board to revoke the decision, complaining that Mr. O’Quinn has made much of his money by representing plaintiffs in medical liability cases, “many of them groundless.”
“We believe him to bear partial responsibility for the litigious environment in which we work, not to mention the increased costs, due for example to higher medical liability insurance premiums and the increased cost of ‘litigation-prevention’ medical practice,” says the petition, addressed to the Rev. Don Wimberly, chairman of the St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System’s Board of Directors.
More than 90 doctors have signed the document.
Mr. O’Quinn is best known for representing thousands of women in successful lawsuits against silicone breast-implant manufacturers. He could not be reached for comment.
Melinda Muse, a spokeswoman for St. Luke’s, said the gift from the John M. O’Quinn Foundation was the largest in the hospital’s history. It will pay for cardiovascular research and help finance a $200-million capital campaign to build a new patient-care center. She said the board decided to rename the medical tower, which is connected to the hospital by a skybridge, “the O’Quinn Medical Tower at St. Luke’s.”
Lee Hogan, executive chairman of the St. Luke’s board, told the Houston Chronicle that the board had already considered the concerns raised by the medical staff but “isn’t inclined to reconsider.”
