Tulsa Doctor and hospital sued

Three Green Country families filed lawsuits Friday against a Hillcrest heart surgeon and the hospital. <br><br>They accuse Doctor Arshad Yousuf of malpractice in two deaths and one injury. The News on

Friday, May 16th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Three Green Country families filed lawsuits Friday against a Hillcrest heart surgeon and the hospital.

They accuse Doctor Arshad Yousuf of malpractice in two deaths and one injury. The News on 6 first brought you this story in February. The lawsuits say Doctor Yousuf operated on 77-year-old Wilburn Millard last July and Millard died a month later.

They say Doctor Yousuf operated on Raymond Cope less than a week later and bypassed the wrong vessels, leading to thousands of dollars in medical expenses.

They also say Doctor Yousuf operated on Christine Crider a couple of months later and she died. The families say they didn't know about the other cases and they felt they got no answers to their questions. Larry Crider, Cristine's widower, "the only answer I ever got was from Dr. Yousuf and he just said, I don't know, it's not textbook.â€

Janice Millard, Wilburn's daughter, "At one point, Dr. Yousuf just stood back and shook his head and said I give up, I don't know."

Hillcrest says these accusations have been thoroughly reviewed by independent sources and found to be completely false. Doctor Yousuf's attorney says he welcomes the opportunity to finally be able to defend these false allegations.