December 15, 2011 Recent Legal News
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MoreMarrowDonors.org v US
9th Circuit
A federal circuit ruled that marrow donors may be paid for donations. This is because the rule that donors can not be paid does not apply to blood donors or those that donate constituents of blood.
Iowa Medical Assn. v Iowa
Trial Ct.
The Iowa Medical Assn. sued the state after a law passed by the Iowa Nursing Assn. allowed advanced registered nurse practitioners to supervise fluoroscopy. A judge issued an injunction immediately and now after the court trial the regulation by the Nurses was declared invalid as against state law. Another success for medicine against providers.
Mayo Clinic v Prometheus
US Supreme Court
The high court has heard arguments in the above case. In 2010 the Washington Court of Appeals heard the case and ruled that Prometheus' idea of how to measure the dosage of a medicine may be patented. The Supremes are now taking up the issue.
US v UCSD
Filed
The feds filed suit against the University of California at San Diego for
immigration discrimination. The law requires that all applicants must show
the same identification. The University required non citizens to show a
green card and citizens were not required to show anything. The University
went on to require all non citizens to verify their status later on face
firing. The feds want to fine the University (California taxpayors) for
each violation and to rehire all that were fired. Top
Grice v North Okaloosa Medical
Center
To Be Filed
Ms. Grice went into the outpatient department in Florida to have several stitches removed from her forehead. She ended up in a Alabama hospital burn unit due to a flare fire while getting her cysts removed.
Spicer v Osunkoya
Delaware Supreme Court
Spicer was treated by the family practitioner for tonsillitis. She was referred to an ENT specialist for treatment. She sued the primary care physician because she became addicted to oxycodone and had unnecessary surgery. She claimed that the primary did not do a through exam and send all the findings to the ENT. The high court tossed the case since once the patient was referred there was no further contact and therefore no duty. She suffered no injury prior to the referral. I do not understand how this made it to the state high court.
Burns v Palms W. Hospital
Fla Dist. Ct.
The estate of the deceased sued the hospital because the patient died being transferred to another institution. The plaintiff claimed that the hospital employed gastroenterologists but knew they did not respond to ED call for uninsured patients. The court found that this is a form of medical malpractice and as such required the procedural requirements of same. The plaintiff's attorney tried to get around the requirements and got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Elfont v Wyeth Pharmaceuticals
Settlement
Three women sued for getting cancer due to PremPro by Wyeth. Pfizer has settled the suit after the three women won a jury verdict of $72 million. This stops the puni stage of the trial. The settlement was confidential. Top
Aetna v Michigan Blue Cross
Filed
Aetna has accused Blue Cross of Michigan of illegal anticompetitive conduct. Aetna claims that the Blue entered into contracts with hospitals that gave the hospitals higher rates if they charged other insurers higher rates as well. The Blues have already lost a summary judgment motion on this issue. This is now in federal court in Detroit. Top
Lee v Makhnevich
Filed
Patient Lee has sued New York City Dentist Makhnevich in US District Court in the Southern District of New York because the Dentist threatened him with a law suit due to his posting of two critical reviews of the Dentist on line. The Dentist has a contract with his patients that states the Dentist and patient will maintain privacy and if the patient commented on the procedure on line copyright of the comment would switch to the Dentist. The Dentist drained an abscess and at a subsequent appointment restored the tooth. The charge was $4766 and the Dentist filed the insurance with the wrong company. The Dentist refused to correct the error and wanted to charge the patient an additional $200 for the medical records. When Lee went to an another dentist he was told the procedure should only have been $200. That's when he posted on two websites negative comments about the dentist's practice. Sounds to me like a sound legal and moral complaint by the patient. Top
Bithoney v Fulton Dekalb Hosp.
Ga. Ct. App.
Dr. Bithoney was hired by the hospital administration to become the CMO for 15 months. After he moved to the area to take the position the Board decided that they did not want to hire him. The problem was that there was only an oral contract and the statute of frauds requires a writing for any contract longer than one year. The physician lost. Another physician who did not get an attorney prior to moving or got one who needs discipline and a law suit. Top
Kim v Maryland Medical Board
Maryland Supreme Court
Dr. Kim was disciplined by the Medical Board for not being truthful on three places on his application. He on the three sections stated he was not involved in a medical malpractice action when he had been sued the year before and the trial was coming up. Dumb Doctor. Top
US v Hemrajani
Guilty
Dr. Suresh Hemrajani of New York City has been found guilty of treating multiple people for AIDS when in fact they did not have the disease. He erroneously billed Medicaid for the un-needed meds and treatments.
US v Stein
Guilty
Dr. Michael Stein of North Caldwell, New Jersey, pled guilty of submitting false claims for about 900 nasal endoscopies on one patient that were not performed. He agreed to restitution of $$725,156.45 and will also be sentenced in March for his crime. He faces a fine of twice the amount gained plus jail time.
US v Reddy
Sentenced
Dr. Rajashahker Reddy of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to over four years in prison for healthcare fraud. He was also ordered to pay $919,000 in restitution. He billed for radiology work actually done by non-qualified assistants.
FDA v Lap-Band
Filed
The FDA has filed a suit against the Southern California Lap-Band organization for misleading advertising. There are billboards all over that promote how easy the procedure is and they never tell about the risks of the procedure. Top
New Jersey v Rivera
Arrested
Justin Stewart, a 22 year old, went to the home of Kasie Rivera who gave the youngster a shot of silicone into his penis. The silicon migrated to the lungs and he died of a silicon embolus. She has been arrested on manslaughter and the unauthorized practice of medicine.
Virginia v Yadao
Arrested
Dr. Alex Yadao of Triangle, Virginia, was arrested for selling prescriptions for Oxycontin and other meds. 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.