Panos cases end with settlement for 256 medical malpractice lawsuits

Nina Schutzman
Poughkeepsie Journal

A settlement agreement could mean up to $40 million for the 256 plaintiffs suing Spyros Panos for medical malpractice. 

Panos, a former orthopedist and Hopewell Junction local who had served time for health care fraud, was released from federal prison in March 2017. But he was still facing hundreds of civil medical malpractice lawsuits.

An agreement was reached by plaintiffs and the two insurance companies that will be paying out claims for Panos and his former employer, Mid Hudson Medical Group. 

PANOS: Out of prison, Panos faces medical malpractice suits

"The maximum payout for all claimants, combined, might approach $40 million," said attorney Christopher Meagher of the Meagher & Meagher law firm, who represented more than two dozen plaintiffs. "However, it is also possible it will come in considerably less because of the legal insurance coverage issues."

Former Dutchess County orthopedist Spyros Panos, left, exits Federal court in White Plains accompanied by his attorney and family members on Thursday. Oct. 31, 2013

Panos pleaded guilty to one count of felony health care fraud in November 2013 and admitted to running a multimillion-dollar scheme that defrauded multiple health insurance providers.

But Panos — who has been accused of botching surgeries, doing unnecessary surgeries on healthy patients and more — will not admit to medical wrongdoing as part of the settlement.

The final amount of money each individual plaintiff will receive has not yet been determined. 

Lawyers for the plaintiffs have been "trying to cobble together this agreement for the last two years in an effort to bring closure to the victims of a serial malpractice abuser," Meagher said.

Attorneys for plaintiffs in the civil medical malpractice cases such as Meagher, Nancy McGee of Wisell & McGee, and Brian Brown of Zaremba Brownell & Brown, have been working together as part of a "plaintiffs' committee," making efforts to reach a resolution, Meagher said. And "Judges Lewis Lubell and Paul Marx were integral in reaching this agreement." 

As part of the settlement, a "point system" was agreed upon to help determine how much money each plaintiff will receive. Each point is worth $2,500; it's one factor among several that will be used to determine final awards.

The process is a "complicated one, with a number of complex legal and medical issues for each patient still to be resolved," Meagher said. "We think that will all be determined within the next couple of months, with the first payments being made within six months." 

The claims are going to be paid by Medical Liability Mutual Insurance Company and Healthcare Professionals Insurance Company.

Nina Schutzman: nschutzman@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-451-4518, Twitter: @pojonschutzman