NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) -
The biggest newspaper in the country is accusing one of Nashville's biggest businesses of performing "unjustified" medical procedures.
According to a report in The New York Times, some HCA facilities performed heart procedures that may not have been needed and essentially put patients in danger.
The article says at one Florida hospital, half of the cardiac catheritizations were performed on people without significant heart disease.
In a conference call with investors Monday, HCA officials disclosed that the company was contacted by the U.S. Attorney's office about some Florida facilities and a few in other states.
HCA also posted information on its website disputing the Times article and suggesting its rate of surgery is "in line" with the industry average.
HCA is the largest for-profit hospital company in the United States, founded in Nashville by the Frist family.
But it has also had a substantial scandal in the past. In the late 1990s, Columbia/HCA pleaded guilty to 14 felonies, and paid big fines for violations including Medicare fraud, paying kickbacks to doctors and overcharging the government.
HCA's president at the time was Rick Scott, who is now governor of Florida, where the Times says most of the problems are happening.
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