A Yonkers neurosurgeon is demanding nearly $500,000 from the Catholic Archdiocese of New York for alleged unpaid emergency services he provided to a patient insured by the diocese.
Hudson Neurosurgery PLLC, owned by Dr. Haroon F. Choudhri, accused the diocese of unjust enrichment in a complaint originally filed in Westchester Supreme Court and moved on May 6 to federal court in White Plains.
“It would be inequitable and against good conscience to permit [the diocese] to retain the benefit of discharging its obligation to its insured,” the complaint states, “without complying with its legal obligations to pay … for the reasonable value of emergency services.”
Choudhri, who specializes in complex spinal surgery, was an on-call surgeon at St. John’s Riverside Hospital on March 26, 2021 when a 44-year-old man was brought to the emergency room.
The patient was in severe agony with debilitating neck and shoulder pain, according to the complaint. The spinal cord and nerve roots were compressed, discs were herniated, and he was unable to use his right arm.
“The absence of immediate medical attention would result in the patient’s health being in serious jeopardy,” the complaint states, and could result in “serious impairment to patient’s bodily functions or serious disfigurement.”
Choudhri operated on neck and upper back vertebra, according to the complaint, and performed several technically challenging procedures.
Hudson Neurosurgery submitted insurance claims totaling $498,842 to the diocese’s insurance administrator. On Nov. 30, 2021, the diocese paid $29,117, less than 6% of the bill.
Hudson Neurosurgery is an out-of-network provider under the diocese’s health insurance, the complaint explains, so there was no contractual rate of payment. But under the federal Emergency Medical Treatment Act Choudhri had a duty to stabilize the patient’s medical condition, regardless of his insurance status.
A doctor can be fined up to $50,000 for violating the federal law, according to the complaint. And under New York law, a doctor can be found guilty of a misdemeanor and imprisoned for up to a year for refusing to treat someone seeking emergency medical care.
Courts have held that out-of-network providers who treat emergency patients are entitled to a reasonable rate for their services, the complaint states.
Hudson Neurosurgery claims that the diocese, as a self-funded insurer, was “directly enriched by paying out less than what is reasonable or required on claims such as this.”
Choudhri is demanding $469,725.
