MN medical examiner raised flag about former neurosurgeon

A deputy St. Louis County medical examiner was so concerned about the patient care provided by neurosurgeon Stefan Konasiewicz that he requested an investigation to determine "if Dr. Konasiewicz is incompetent or reckless." Dr. Donald Kundel wrote to the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice in 2008, detailing cases of alleged patient harm caused by Konasiewicz, who was then a neurosurgeon at St. Luke's hospital. In the letter, the medical examiner told the board that more cases probably would be found if there was an investigation. "Based on hospital corridor conversation by physicians, it is likely these three cases are the tip of an iceberg," Kundel wrote. More than two years after Kundel's letter, in 2010, the medical board disciplined Konasiewicz for "unprofessional and unethical conduct." By then, Konasiewicz had left St. Luke's and Minnesota.