Cardiologist was fired for speaking out about racist texts, private jet misuse, lawsuit claims
A veteran cardiologist is suing the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) after he says he was fired for speaking out about inappropriate text messages and sharing various ethical concerns with hospital leaders.
Hemal Gada, MD, was an interventional cardiologist with UPMC for several years, dating to when the hospital merged with PinnacleHealth Hospitals employee in 2017. He also served as president of the UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute for more than five years. In August 2025, however, Gada was fired from these positions.
In a new lawsuit, Gada charged that UPMC fired him over multiple incidents that had nothing to do with his performance as an interventional cardiologist.
Text messages claimed patients ‘do not like to be treated by brown physicians’
First, Gada reported racist text messages from other clinicians that claimed patients “do not like to be treated by brown physicians with accents.” The messages also mentioned an “effort to replace white doctors with brown ones.”
When Gada brought these text messages to the attention of a regional president, however, he quickly learned that he was now the subject of a human resources investigation into his own conduct. Gada received a letter outlining his “alleged performance and conduct issues” and then submitted an official response. Within days, he had been fired.
Cardiologist shared concerns about CEO’s relationship with medtech industry
The second incident mentioned in his lawsuit involves his concerns about the relationship between Leslie Davis, UPMC’s CEO, and Edwards Lifesciences, one of the world’s largest medtech companies. Edwards funds many clinical trials into the potential use of its technologies, and UPMC physicians participate in some of those studies. Seeing this as a “conflict of interest,” Gada shared his concerns with the UPMC Office of Ethics.
Gada also said he found online evidence of Davis allegedly using a UPMC jet to attend Edwards board meetings “and potentially other Edwards engagements.” Again, he said he shared these concerns with individuals in leadership at UPMC. Gada was terminated months later.
Gada is known within the interventional cardiology space to be outspoken when it comes to potential ethical issues within the medical device industry. He regularly calls for improved transparency on social media, for example, and spoke to Cardiovascular Business about specific concerns last June.
Additional details about cardiologist’s lawsuit
Both UPMC and the Heart and Vascular Institute are listed as defendants in the lawsuit, which Gada and his attorneys filed March 31 in the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Gada is demanding a jury trial and hopes to be reinstated to his role as an interventional cardiologist at UPMC. In addition, he is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
Michael has more than 19 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.