According to the National Cancer Institute, MDS is “a group of cancers where immature blood cells in the bone marrow fail to mature or become healthy blood cells”.
At the age of 33, Olson received this life-altering diagnosis and was warned by Weiner that he would be “dead before the end of the year” unless he started treatment immediately.
“That diagnosis changed the direction of my life,” Olson, who is now 47, shared with ProPublica.
Prior to Olson’s diagnosis, Weiner had conducted two bone marrow biopsies, with only one indicating signs of MDS.
The second biopsy, conducted ten months later, showed no trace of MDS.
Despite the negative results from the second biopsy, Olson continued with treatment for nine years.
Weiner reportedly advised him to disregard the clear results, claiming they demonstrated the treatment’s effectiveness and insisting he should continue.
When questioned by ProPublica about the negative results, Weiner explained: “That doesn’t say you didn’t have the disease. It just means that the treatment worked, and it knocked it away. It doesn’t mean you didn’t have it at the beginning.”
Over time, further testing of the original biopsy sample revealed Olson was never afflicted with MDS.
The misdiagnosis came to light in 2016 when Dr. Robert LaClair, a kidney specialist overseeing Olson’s dialysis, identified an ‘iron overload’.
In addition to the iron overload, LaClair discovered that chemotherapy was exacerbating Olson’s pre-existing anaemia.
By 2019, LaClair was fairly certain that Olson had been misdiagnosed and encouraged him to seek a second opinion. A year later, LaClair raised his concerns with the hospital’s peer review committee, and after becoming head of the committee, he dismissed Weiner.
St Peter’s Health accused Weiner of causing ‘harm to patients by administering treatments, including chemotherapy, that were not clinically indicated or necessary’ in Olson’s case and others.
In 2021, Olson ceased his cancer treatment and filed a lawsuit against St Peter’s the following year. The hospital settled the case for an undisclosed amount.
Weiner has denied the claims and has initiated a lawsuit against the hospital for wrongful termination and defamation.
A Montana judge dismissed Weiner’s lawsuit, according to ProPublica, but he has filed an appeal.
As of December 20, the appeal remains pending with the state Supreme Court.