A doctor who called himself the “leg saver” is shutting down his vascular clinics in Michigan, where he performed thousands of lucrative procedures that have come under scrutiny for being unnecessary and potentially dangerous.
Earlier this month, patients received a letter from the staff of Dr. Mustapha’s clinic, Advanced Cardiac & Vascular Centers, informing them that the business, which has clinics in Grand Rapids and Lansing, was closing and advising them to find new doctors.
Dr. Mustapha and Dr. Saab didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Dr. Mustapha is a prominent player in a booming industry that targets the roughly 12 million Americans with peripheral artery disease, in which plaque builds up in arteries, clogging the flow of blood.
He was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by device manufacturers to conduct clinical trials, train other doctors and speak about their products, according to a federal database of industry payments to doctors.
Persons:
Jihad Mustapha, Mustapha’s, Dr, Mustapha, Fadi
Organizations:
New York Times, Vascular Centers, Fadi Saab, Saab
Locations:
Michigan, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Ocala, Fla, Dearborn, Mich