Federal prosecutors in Baltimore indicted a medical malpractice lawyer on attempted extortion charges, claiming he threatened bad publicity about organ transplants at University of Maryland Medical System unless UMMS paid him $25 million, according to The Baltimore Sun. 

Prosecutors allege that Stephen Snyder demanded the hospital pay him $25 million as part of a sham consulting arrangement or else he would launch a media campaign that alleged the hospital transplanted diseased organs into patients. 

The hospital, which went to the FBI last year, declined to comment to The Sun about the charges but defended its organ transplant program. 

“Our experts often handle the most complex cases that other transplant centers have declined, and our program’s capabilities in kidney, heart, liver, pancreas and lung transplantation are well-recognized regionally and nationally,” the hospital told The Sun. 

Mr. Snyder declined to comment to The Sun, but he previously denied the accusations against him. 

Read the full article from The Baltimore Sun here. 

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