Carmel physician wins $2M from Ascension for breach of contract, interference

A Hamilton County jury has awarded a Carmel physician $2.05 million after finding that Ascension St. Vincent Medical Group had improperly fired him.

Dr. Timothy Story won his civil suit Thursday as the jury awarded him $300,000 for breach of contract and $1.75 million for tortious interference.

The jury deliberated for about three hours before returning a verdict, ending a lawsuit that lasted for about 3-1/2 years.

“I’m happy to report that Dr. Story feels vindicated by the jury’s verdict after an extraordinarily difficult and long legal battle,” his attorney, Kathleen DeLaney, told IBJ.

The attorney for Ascension St. Vincent, Andrew McNeil of Bose, McKinney & Evans, did not return a phone call or email to IBJ on Friday.

Story had claimed that the Indianapolis-based health system fired him in 2020 upon learning of an alleged federal investigation into his prescribing practices. Ascension St. Vincent said in its termination notice that Story failed to notify it of the federal investigation, as required by his employment agreement.

Story said to the best of his knowledge he was not the target or subject of any federal investigation and had simply responded to a federal subpoena requesting five patient records.

“The government was investigating one of his patients. They weren’t investigating him, OK?” DeLaney said. “And (Ascension) fired him because he produced patient records in compliance with a lawfully issued federal grand jury subpoena.”

She added: “Ascension claimed that he shouldn’t have produced the records without telling them about it, and that they had a policy that required him to tell them about it. But the subpoena on its face instructed him to maintain the confidentiality in the matter.”

Ascension, based in St. Louis, is the parent of Indianapolis-based Ascension St. Vincent, and is the largest Catholic hospital system in the nation.

Story is a partner at FirstLine PHC, a concierge medical practice where patients pay annual fees for access to doctors. The practice leases office space from IU Health North at 11725 N. Illinois St. in Carmel.

Story, an internal medicine physician who was team internist for the Indiana Pacers for 12 years and an on-air television consultant, said he has performed services through FirstLine for more than a decade with Ascension’s knowledge and consent.

Story claims that Ascension canceled his professional liability insurance on Aug. 28, 2020, a day after firing him, leaving him unable to practice medicine until he could acquire new coverage. Story resumed his practice at FirstLine a month later.

According to the complaint, Ascension employees, who have been permitted to work at FirstLine’s office, have “disrupted and interfered” with Story’s patient relationship and delivery of patient care. For example, they have refused Story’s requests for laboratory test results for his patients, on Ascension’s instructions, the lawsuit said.

His practice was further disrupted when his partner, Dr. Kevin McCallum, told him that Ascension would not provide malpractice insurance to McCallum for covering Story’s patients, and as a result, McCallum would no longer provide call coverage for Story.