Lawsuit Against Mission Viejo Breast Exam Center Is Settled

A lawsuit settled Monday against a Mission Viejo health care center accused of violating health and safety codes in 1991 requires the center to offer patients new breast exams or refunds, the Orange County district attorney’s office announced.

The lawsuit against Southland Breast Center Inc. alleged that between June 1 and Aug. 1, 1991, the center used an unregistered mammographic X-ray machine.

Investigators also discovered a lack of quality assurance procedures, according to a prepared statement from Deputy Dist. Atty. Michelle M. Lyman.

Under the settlement, the center and its owner, Dr. Konstantinos Melahoures, will pay $20,000 in fines. Melahoures must contact patients whose mammographies were performed between May 15, 1991, and Aug. 15, 1991, and urge them to have a re-examination, prosecutors said.

If the women want the exam from another doctor, Melahoures must refund their payments for the previous exam.

It was not immediately clear how many women the order could impact. Prosecutors say they know of at least five women who received the test under questionable circumstances.

Melahoures, claiming the violations were minor, said he knows of no women who received false negative test results. Melahoures said the exams in question were limited to the five women cited by prosecutors.

“This has all been blown out of proportion and this was a long time ago,” the doctor said. “My patients know me and know they get good care.”