January 15, 2025 Recent Legal News
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New Jersey v Perez
Arrested
Dr. Humberto Perez of Jersey City, was arrested for sexually assaulting a patient. He is accused of two counts of sexual assault on a male patient.
US v Stockin
Guilty
Major Michael Stockin, a physician at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State has plead guilty to sexually assaulting dozens of his male patients.
Florida v Leedy
Indicted
Dr. Stephen Leedy of the Tampa Bay area was indicted for the production of child porn. Top
US v Rasekhi, Busheri, Southern California Medical
Center, R & B Medical Group
Settlement
Dr. Mohammad Rasekhi, the founder of R&B and the CMO of Southern California Medical Center, Sheila Bushar and the medical groups agreed to pay $15 million to settle claims that they conspired to defraud fed med by billing for services for which they paid kickbacks. This is a qui tam case from former employees of the medical companies who will receive a nice cut.
US v Community Health
Settlement
The Network agreed to pay $135 million to settle allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by billing for services referred by physicians who had received high salaries in order to induce referrals. This was a qui tam case filed over 10 years ago.
US v Naghshbandi, Bello, Ghermay, Theesfeld, Cook,
Belton
Settlement
Drs. Abbesalom Ghermay of Plano, Texas, Daniel Theesfeld or Longview, Texas, and James Cook of Richmond, Virginia along with Shahram Naghshbandi of Fort Wort, Texas John Bello of Chesterfield, Virginia and Troy Belton of Columbia, South Carolina agreed to pay a total of $1,137,914 to settle allegations that they gave or took illegal kickbacks to physicians for sending patients to certain labs to testing.
US v CompreCare Health
Settlement
The company agreed to pay $358,514 to settle allegations that charged for telehealth psych sessions that did not meet the minimal time requirements.
US v Saffold, Chesapeake Bay ENT
Settlement
Dr. Scott Saffold and his practice Chesapeake Bay ENT agreed to pay $625,000 to settle allegations that he (they) billed for balloon dilations of of sinuses that wre not medically necessary. Top
Healthcare
Alserman v Meuhausen (Progressive American Insurance Company)
Jury Verdict
Mary Alderman, RN was seriously injured in an auto accident in Orlando, Florida. She was offered and refused a $50,000 settlement. At trial the defendant was found to be at fault and the plaintiff was found to have significant life altering injuries. The jury found for the plaintiff to the tune of $2.3 million.
Massachusetts v UnitedHealth
Decision
The court ordered three insurers owned by UnitedHealth to pay $165 million for misleading consumers into purchasing supplemental health insurance they did not need. The court said $50 million was to be rebated to the consumers and the rest is a fine. The companies were accused of doing thee fraud prior to the UnitedHealth purchase of them. The decision will be appealed.
Aetna v Radiology Partners
Filed
Aetna has filed suit against the private equity backed group for allegedly manipulating the No Surprises Act to get more money. The medical group has stayed as a non-provider and then gone to arbitration to get more money. The stats are interesting. About 73% of providers accept the offered insurance rates without questioning them. When questioned, the private equity providers win over 90% of the cases. Those with different ownership only win 39%. Aetna wants repayment and an injunction forbidding the medical group from filing any more claims for arbitration. Top
Murdoch v Oregon Health & Science University, Howard
Filed
51 year old John Murdoch was awake and conscious according to the suit when his face caught fire due to an alcohol prep. He lived for 6 more months with scars and pain and died from his cancer of the tongue. The widow has filed suit against the hospital and Dr. Adam Howard, an ENT who now has a lapsed Oregon license and is apparently working for an university in West Virginia. Top
Peer Review and Employment
Danielson v Seattle Children's Hospitl
Jury Verdict
Dr. Benjamin Danielson, the former director of the Odessa Brown Children's Clinic at the hospital, is Black resigned and sued the hospital for institutional racism. The doctor accused the hospital of permitting racial slurs, failing to remedy known incidents of racism etc. The plaintiff pointed to an independent study by an outside law firm that said there were systemic problems in the hospital. The hospital does not believe the plaintiff made his case and so will file an appeal in order to force a settlement. The jury ordered a payment of $21 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.