Two nurse anesthetists fought a fifteen-year battle as named plaintiffs for the Minnesota Association of Nurse Anesthetists (MANA). For years, apparently, area hospitals considered whether a job should be performed by anesthesiologists or nurse anesthetists and opted for the more expensive (and more profitable) anesthesiologists. MANA fought back with twin lawsuits: an antitrust lawsuit and a U.S. Department of Justice-backed Medicare fraud suit.
Leading the charge came at significant cost to the two named plaintiffs, both personal and professional, as they were shunned by their employers and black-balled.
At the end of the long journey, it had to have been satisfying for named Plaintiff, Ladonna Schweer, to have been represented by FMJ lawyers and, in particular, her daughter, Jennifer Pirozzi, who was in high school at the start of the lawsuits.
Star Tribune coverage is here.