Laurels & lances: Birthday, blast off, settlement
Share this post:
Laurel: To a major milestone. In 2023, Westmoreland County marks its 250th year.
Commissioners kicked off the yearlong celebration Monday with the sweetest start to a birthday — cupcakes. It is just the beginning of a long list of activities expected in coming months. Among those is a public meeting in June at Historic Hanna’s Town, the original county seat.
“Westmoreland County is one of the first counties in Pennsylvania. The history we have here is wonderful, and we want people to come out and see it,” said Commissioner Doug Chew.
Laurel: To getting off the ground. SpaceX was set to send four astronauts to the International Space Station on Monday, but with just two minutes to go, the plug was pulled because of technical issues with the engine ignition system.
Those issues were resolved in time for the Falcon rocket to blast off Thursday.
The four-person crew includes pilot Warren “Woody” Hoburg, a 2004 North Allegheny graduate and former research scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The crew will spend a month on the ISS, where Hoburg will serve as an Expedition 69 flight engineer.
Lance: To a risky practice. UPMC, cardiothoracic surgeon James Luketich and University of Pittsburgh Physicians have settled a lawsuit with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The government filed the suit in September 2021. It claimed Luketich regularly scheduled complicated surgeries at the same time. That would lead to him moving from one operating room to another — sometimes even to different hospitals — during the procedures. The overlap would require patients to be under anesthesia longer than necessary.
One patient lost parts of a hand; another lost a lower leg, according to the government. The case also includes issues with how Medicare was billed.
The case was settled for $8.5 million. UPMC spokesman Paul Wood said the health care system “continues to believe Dr. Luketich’s surgical practice complies with (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) teaching physical regulations and related building guidance, as well as UPMC’s internal surgical policies.”