A second physician has filed suit against Magee-Womens Hospital and the UPMC Health System, accusing the hospital of falsifying hundreds of thousands of Pap smear reports and practicing poor quality control.

Dr. Kenneth S. McCarty Jr., a board-certified pathologist, said in his suit that the inadequate controls resulted in misidentification of patients and mislabeling of specimens. In some instances, the doctor's signature was electronically affixed to Pap smear reports that were wrong. He also says doctors who voiced concern about quality problems in the department faced intimidation and threats.

In one instance, McCarty and colleague Dr. Susan Silver found that a newly diagnosed breast cancer had been evident a year earlier. When they reported their findings, McCarty's suit says hospital officials tried to cover up the mistake and persuade him to suppress or change his diagnosis.

Another time, specimens for two patients were mislabeled and switched, resulting in one woman undergoing surgery and radiation even though she didn't have cancer, while detection of the other woman's breast mass was delayed. An internal audit after an October 2000 review found "more than a dozen examples of the completely wrong patient on diagnostic reports in a single month," the suit said.

McCarty's suit says he met with hospital officials in May 2000 to discuss quality control problems but instead McCarty was told that if he continued to point out problems, "he would be made to regret it." After that, McCarty said the hospital removed his pathology equipment and removed him from routine diagnostic rotations while "expressly suggesting that he leave Magee."

McCarty, who came to UPMC in 1992, had his contract terminated in June.

Last month, former Magee pathologist Silver filed a similar suit, and two local women filed for class-action status regarding the Magee lab's handling of Pap smears. The suits prompted a state health department investigation of the Magee lab, which has not been completed.

With the new suit, "Nothing has changed with this matter," said Jane Duffield, a spokeswoman for the hospital. "As part of their media strategy, the attorneys for the plaintiffs have taken one unfounded lawsuit and filed it three times."

Two weeks ago, UPMC asked that the suits be thrown out, arguing that they had no basis for showing any harm had been done.

"UPMC and Magee will not acquiesce to those individuals who are looking for a pot of gold at the end of a baseless and unfounded lawsuit. At the end of the day, when the dust settles, everyone will understand why we are so confident that we will prevail in court," Duffield said.

Hospital officials also have offered documentation showing that the Magee lab has had uninterrupted accreditation from the College of American Pathologists since 1972.

But Silver said yesterday that the accreditation process would not necessarily detect the falsifications and deficiencies she and McCarty have cited, particularly with deliberate attempts by the hospital to conceal them. "If you only look at the paperwork, you won't see the problem."

Both Silver and McCarty are seeking relief under Pennsylvania's Whistleblower Law. After the Post-Gazette published a four-part series in October about physicians facing retaliation from hospitals for reporting poor care, two separate bills were introduced to amend the Whistleblower Law to specifically offer protection for medical workers. Both bills are currently in committee.