Paging Steve Keane! From the AP, link courtesy Wojohowicz

Former Mets first baseman Ed Kranepool is suing a Long Island hospital for using his name, photo and medical information in a direct-mail fundraiser without his permission. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday against Long Island Jewish Medical Center and the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System Foundation in federal court in Brooklyn.

Following shoulder surgery at the medical center, Kranepool was featured in a health system spring 2007 newsletter.

“He managed my care beautifully,” Kranepool was quoting as saying in the newsletter about the doctor who performed the surgery. “I couldn’t have asked for better.”

A few months later, the foundation, which is the fundraising arm of the health system, used information about Kranepool’s surgery and his photo in a direct-mail appeal for donations sent to Queens and Long Island residents.

Bruce Baron, Kranepool’s attorney, said his client never gave permission for his name, photo and medical information to be used to raise money. The suit seeks at least $2 million in damages.

“What this hospital did is beyond punitive,” Baron said. “It not only disclosed my client’s medical condition and treatment but it exploited it for its own personal gain without his permission and consent.”