Judge Ousts Tenet Juror

A federal judge in San Diego dismissed a juror Tuesday in the criminal kickback case against Tenet Healthcare Corp. after the man discussed the case outside of court.

After a morning hearing, U.S. District Judge M. James Lorenz announced he would replace the juror with an alternate.

He directed the 12-member jury, which was in its 17th day of discussion, to start deliberations from the beginning when it reconvened this morning.

Federal prosecutors have charged that Tenet’s Alvarado Hospital Medical Center bribed physicians to refer patients. If convicted, Dallas-based Tenet, the nation’s second-largest hospital company, faces fines, and the San Diego hospital could be expelled from Medicaid and Medicare programs.

The trial began May 3.

The same case went to trial in the fall of 2004, but the judge declared a mistrial in February after jurors had deadlocked.

A spokeswoman for U.S. Atty. Carol Lam in San Diego said that a court reporter told the judge Monday that she had overheard the juror on a commuter train talking about the case.

The court employee reported hearing the juror say he had thought of “some things I could bring in to broaden” the other jurors’ perspectives, according to a Bloomberg News account.

Lorenz said Monday that he didn’t think the conduct merited a mistrial, Bloomberg reported.

Tenet spokesman Kent Jarrell said the company was comfortable with the judge’s decision.

Shares of Tenet fell 15 cents to $8.04 on Tuesday.