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July 15, 2025 Recent Legal News
Texas v Adams Dr. John Quincy Adams of Lubbock was arrested for sexual assault after a woman was seen in the local ED. She claimed that the anesthesiologist drugged and inappropriately touched her without consent at his home. Virginia v Dixon Dr. Duane Dixon of Bedford, Massachusetts, was sentenced to 40 months in prison and to forfeit $200,000 plus a $35,000 fine. He plead guilty to distributing narcotics without a legitimate medical reason and failing to report a pattern of health care fraud owned by L5 Medical Holdings DBA Pain Care Center in Virginia. Others involved included Dr. Wendell Randell who has been sentenced to 18 months in prison; Charles Adams, Jr. who was falsely held out as as a trained medical professional got 24 months; Debra Shaffer NP also got jail and a fine. The owner of L5 John Barnes and the COO Jennifer Adams are awaiting sentencing. Texas v Silva Dr. Marshal Silva of San Antonio was arrested for placing a camera in the staff bathroom at H-E-B Wellness Primary Care. Oklahoma v Sodam Dr. Bali Sodam of Lawton was found guilty of sexual battery and indecent exposure with a patient. Michigan v Velugubanti Dr. Gireesh Velugubanti of Royal Oaak was arrested and charged with human trafficking in connection with allegedly praying for sex with trafficked women. He had previously been in a drug diversion program in New Mexico. Washington v Voegel-Podadera Dr. Andrew Voegel-Podadera of Seattle and a resident physician in anestesia at the University of Washington was arrested for allegedly diverting drugs from patients for his own use. New Jersey v Johal Dr. Gurvindra Johal of Colonia was indicted on more charges. Originally indicted for touching female patients inappropriately in 2023, the doctor is now charged with two counts of second degree sexual assault and many more minor charges. Montana v Galewyrick Dr. Kenneth Galewyrick of Polon was arrested on an outstanding warrant from Wisconsin where he practiced. He was indicted there on two counts of enticement of children with the intent to cause the children to expose their sex organs to him. Ohio v Hamdan Dr. Feras Hamdan of Avon was charged with road rage after he allegedly ran another off the road, showing the Palestinian flag and yelling death to Israel. Florida v Grek Dr. Sasha Grek, an anesthesiologist at HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital in Fort Pierce, was charged wit a felony after allegedly in 2024, withdrawing fentanyl from an IV line of a patient. US v Alhallaq Dr. Yousif Alhallaq is currently serving a sentence for attempted murder of his unborn child. The feds have now indicted him for naturalization fraud. He allegedly filled out his papers for naturalization by answering no to questions regarding whether he was involved in any way with killing or trying to kill another etc. Top US v Baltaian Dr. Lilit Baltaian of Porter Ranch was sentenced to 54 months in prison and ordered to pay almost $1.5 million in restitution. She was convicted for falsely certifying patients for DME. The problems is she has fled and is now at large. If she is ever found and brought back her sentence will be longer. US v Arshad Adnan Arshad, the owner of MTK Taxi and the part owner of All-Star Taxi in Long Island, New York, plead guilty to healthcare fraud. he billed near $20 million from Medicaid falsely after paying people to use their numbers for false rides to and from addiction treatment centers. These runs were never made. US v Roussonicolos Dr. Peter Roussonicolos of Port Saint Lucie, Florida, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for submitting false fed med claims for DME. He is also to repay $21,195,540.18 in US v Toya Dr. Sophie Toya of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, was sentenced to four years in prison for prescribing DME for patients not examined. She was also ordered to pay $3,606,935 in restitution and $120,475 in forfeiture. US v Ahmad Dr. Mohammad Ahmad of Cleveland was working for a telemed company Lifeline Recruiting and ordered medically unnecessary braces for patients not seen nor examined according to the indictment. He was paid $30 for each time he spoke to a patient. US v Librach Dr. Stanley Librach of Chesterfield, Missouri, was sentenced to five years in prison. He was convicted of illegally prescribing narcotics as well as health care fraud and paying illegal kickbacks. US v CVS A federal judge ordered CVS to pay $948.8 million to the government for fraudulently billing fed med for durgs. This was a triple damage demand. This is a whistleblower suit and will be appealed. US v Bhatti Dr. jawad Bhatti of Richmond, Virginia, ws indicted on charges of scamming fed med. He purchased ozone gas devices and allegedly despite being warned by the FDA and the manufacturers that ozone was not a medical device he used ozone injections to treat illnesses and then billed illegally fed med. California v Abrons III Oscar Abrons III of Orange County, California, was sentenced to four years in prison for scamming the state by paying patients to get unnecessary narcotics and then reselling them . His co-conspirators Steven Fleming and Mohamed El-Nachef had been sentenced to five years each. El-Nachef also lost his medical license. US v Mufti Dr. Shayasta Mufti of Delaware was indicted for fraud. She is accused of ordering unnecessary genetic tests for people where she had no relationships, only telemedicine conversations at best. Top Healthcare US v Skrmetti The high court in a 6-3 decision stated the Tennessee law prohibiting minors from receiving testosterone for sex changing roles. They said that transgender treatment is to be decided by the states and that the law does not discriminate on the bass of sex. They are protected in the workforce under a prior case. Patients v Purdue Pharma All states agreed with Purdue Pharma to settle the case that they fueled the opioid epidemic. Purdue agreed to pay $7.4 Billion settlement. Also in the agreement there was nothing regarding the Purdue family not being able to be sued. The prior settlement was negated by the US Supreme Court due to bankruptcy courts can not prevent future lawsuits. Kennedy v Braidwood Management The high court ruled that the appointment of members to the USPSTF is constitutional. The appointment was challenged in Texas by some who wanted to reverse the preventative part of Ocare. Top Husein v Greuner, Centers for Special Surgery of Essex
County The patient went to cardiovascular surgeon David Gruener for leg swelling. She was diagnosed with a AV malformation and scheduled for embolization treatment. Following the procedure the patient had leg paid and discoloration. She went to another hospital and was diagnosed with a hematoma and compartment syndrome. She had emergency surgery and multiple procedures. She sued and Gruener settled for $1.26 million and his license was revoked. The surgicenter was sued for allowing Gruener to operate and they settled for $2.1 million. The center is now closed. McCollum v North Kansa City Hospital, Ham The plaintiff is suing the hospital and physician for the permanent disability and death of her husband. He fell and went to the hospital for head, neck and back pain. The physicians examined him but failed to order an MRI which may have shown the spinal hematoma. Perry v Stanford Heath Tri-Valley The patient was 11 weeks pregnant and was bleeding heavily in 2021. She was told at the hospital that she miscarried. The next day she was her OB who said the fetus was alive and well. She delivered a normal baby later that year. The hospital settled but the doctor prevailed. Husein v Greuner, Centers for Special Surgery of Essex
County The patient had long term leg swelling and was under treatment by cardiovascular surgeon David Greuner. He did no significant tests but diagnosed her with av malformation. He performed 11 embolizations at the surgery center. After the 11th she had sever leg pain and was eventually diagnosed as having a compartment syndrome and had emergency surgery. Dr. Greuner settled for $1.26 million and the ASC settled for $2.1 million, all paid by insurance companies. Top Husel v Mount Carmel West Hospital The judge dismissed the case by Dr. William Husel against the hospital for defamation. The judge gave a directed verdict which may be appealed. Husel was fired after the hospital believed that he was involved in the deaths of 14 patients. He was found not guilty on those counts and then filed this suit. Linskey v UC Irvine Dr. Mark Linskey, the former chair of neurosurgery at Irvine complained about the staff violating policy resulting in patient harm. He was then banned from a residency program he founded and sued. He won $5.8 million and continues to be a tenured professor at Irvine and a practicing neurosurgeon. He also sued several years ago for similar claims and won a judgment then of $2 million. Top DISCLAIMER: Although this article is updated periodically, it reflects the author's point of view at the time of publication. Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice. Readers should consult with their own legal counsel before acting on any of the information presented. |
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