Herald Tribune.com

Tenet Shares Slide Sharply Again

The Associated Press

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) - Shares of Tenet Healthcare Corp. slid another 15 percent Friday, a day after the owner of 113 hospitals across the nation said one of its facilities in California was raided by federal officials investigating alleged unnecessary surgeries and Medicare billing fraud.

Tenet Healthcare Corp. said in a statement Thursday it was "deeply concerned" about the allegations and was fully cooperating with the U.S. attorney's office.

The company said it is hiring independent doctors to look into the charges that two physicians at the company's hospital in Redding, Calif., performed unnecessary angioplasties, coronary bypasses and heart catheterizations.

Federal prosecutors in Sacramento filed an affidavit regarding alleged false billing by two doctors. FBI agents had gone to the Redding hospital Wednesday to collect records on practices by two doctors at the 238-bed hospital, a spokeswoman told Dow Jones Newswires.

In a news release, the company denied the FBI had searched the company's Santa Barbara headquarters.

Tenet shares fell $4.20 to $24.55 in morning trading Friday on the New York Stock Exchange, where a day earlier the shares plunged more than 26 percent on the news.

Last modified: November 01. 2002 10:39AM