Montana medical board renewed Dr. Weiner’s license despite multiple patient harm allegations.
In April 2021, the Montana medical board had access to evidence that Dr. Thomas C. Weiner, a prominent oncologist in Helena, had potentially harmed or killed patients. This information included thousands of pages of patient records and medical reviews, yet the board renewed his medical license not once, but twice during the following years. Weiner had worked as the director of the cancer center at St. Peter’s Health for 24 years before he was fired in 2020. The reasons for his dismissal included overprescribing narcotics, treating patients who didn’t have cancer with chemotherapy, and providing subpar care. Despite the serious accusations, Weiner denied any wrongdoing.
A December 2020 investigation revealed that Weiner had been involved in a troubling pattern of patient harm, including at least 10 deaths that were considered suspicious. Many of the documents tied to these allegations had been in the hands of the Montana medical board for nearly four years, though it seems they were never seriously reviewed. The Board of Medical Examiners renewed Weiner’s license in March 2023 and again in 2025, despite knowing about the troubling cases. Records show that the board had access to medical reviews that raised concerns about Weiner’s practices. However, it appears that no action was taken at the board member level to investigate these matters more thoroughly.
At the time of the investigations, St. Peter’s Health had already provided a large volume of medical documents to the state’s medical board, including records for patients who had been treated by Weiner. Among these records was the case of Scot Warwick, a man diagnosed by Weiner with Stage 4 lung cancer in 2009, despite there being no biopsy to confirm the diagnosis. Weiner treated Warwick with chemotherapy for over 10 years, but an autopsy performed after Warwick’s death in 2020 revealed that he never had cancer. Weiner claimed that the pathologists missed the cancer, but there was no evidence to support this.
Warwick’s widow, Lisa, later learned that the state had possessed her husband’s medical records for years but did nothing about it. She found the situation to be shocking and appalling. “If they are truly doing their job and reviewing these things and looking at all the cases…there is no way they can justify renewing this man’s license,” she said. Another patient, Anthony Olson, discovered that he had received unnecessary chemotherapy for nearly a decade. Multiple biopsies confirmed that Olson never had cancer, yet he was subjected to toxic treatments that caused serious health complications. Olson questioned the authorities’ lack of response, wondering if they simply didn’t care about his case.
While the state continued to renew Weiner’s license, new records were still being handed over to the medical board. In the second batch of documents provided by St. Peter’s, there were records of a 16-year-old girl named Nadine Long who had died after Weiner administered a large dose of phenobarbital, a sedative. Weiner maintained that her condition was terminal, though there was no indication that it was. Even after this information was provided, no one from the hospital was asked to testify or provide further clarification to the board.
Weiner’s troubling practices, along with the deaths linked to his treatment, were reported to multiple agencies, including the National Practitioner Data Bank and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Despite this, Montana’s medical board continued to clear Weiner of any wrongdoing. Board members who served during this period have claimed that Weiner’s case was never discussed at the decision-making level. Dr. James Burkholder, a board member until 2023, expressed concern over the lack of attention given to Weiner’s case, noting that he had been professionally familiar with Weiner and would have recused himself had the case been brought up.
One patient’s wife, Marilyn Ketchum, tried to take action after her husband, Shawn, died in 2016 while under Weiner’s care. She found that Weiner had altered her husband’s medical orders, which she believed had contributed to his death. However, her complaint to the medical board didn’t lead to any immediate action. Two years after her initial complaint, the board responded with no explanation for dismissing the case.
In the wake of these revelations, Montana’s Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into Weiner, though he has not been charged with any crimes. The hospital where Weiner worked, St. Peter’s Health, settled a lawsuit with the U.S. Department of Justice over allegations that Weiner had defrauded federal health care programs. Meanwhile, Weiner’s supporters continue to claim that he was unfairly targeted, raising money for billboards that say, “We Stand With Dr. Weiner,” and organizing protests in Helena. Despite his legal battles, many people continue to believe in his innocence.
The situation has left many questioning how the Montana medical board could allow Weiner to continue practicing despite the mounting evidence of harm. The case highlights significant gaps in the regulatory system that should ensure patients are protected and that dangerous professionals are held accountable. As for Weiner, he has said that he is no longer treating patients because he is unable to obtain malpractice insurance, further complicating his future in the medical field.
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