UPMC sues lawyer trying to recruit patients for class-action lawsuit

A Pittsburgh lawyer is interfering with the contractual relationship between UPMC and some of its patients, the medical giant claims in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.

Attorney Michael O'Day is using a former patient to recruit other patients for a proposed class-action lawsuit against UPMC Presbyterian-Shadyside, UPMC Community Medicine Inc. and Dr. Ghassan Bejjani, a neurosurgeon, the lawsuit says.

A UPMC spokeswoman declined to comment.

The proposed class-action lawsuit involves patients Bejjani treated for Chiari malformation, a structural defect that displaces part of the brain through an opening at the base of the skull and into the spinal canal.

The hospital is seeking a court order that would stop O'Day from contacting patients and is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

O'Day said he is one of a group of lawyers working on the proposed class-action lawsuit, which hasn't been filed yet. UPMC's claims are meritless, he said.

“This is an attempt to intimidate me and, more disturbingly, my clients from their right to seek counsel and file a lawsuit,” he said.

He declined further comment because of the pending lawsuit.

Brian Bowling is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-850-1218 or bbowling@tribweb.com.