February 15, 2022 Recent Legal News
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Ohio v Huesel
Trial
Four years after he was fired for prescribing high doses of fentanyl at Mout Carmel Health Dr. William Huesel is finally getting his day in court as he is being tried for murder. He is accused of killing 25 people in the ICU while he was an intensivist there. However, the judge has dismissed 11 of the charges in which the patient received under 1000 mcg of the drug. The hospital has already paid over $13 million in wrongful death settlements. Top
US
(Khoury) v Intermountain Healthcare
D Utah
In a fascinating case that I really want to see the result of, Dr. Khoury, a vascular surgeon sued Intermountain and their five employed anesthesiologists for submitting false claims. The reason was the doctors never paid attention to their patients and were constantly distracted by their personal electronic devices. The court dismissed the case against the hospital as the pleading did not show that the hospital violated any Medicare conditions of participation. However, he allowed the claims against the anesthesiologists to continue.
US v Muhammad
Sentenced
Malik Muhammad, PhD, was sentenced to 52 months in prison for defrauding Medicaid. He used false diagnosis and medical records for patients he never saw.
US v Spivack
Indictment
Pharmacist Mitchell Spivack and his pharmacy were indicted for illegally dispensing opioids and other controlled substances. He is also accused of fraud.
US
v Hayat Pharmacy
Settlement
The Milwaukee pharmacy agreed to pay $2 million to settle allegations that they submitted false claims by illegally switching patients to higher price meds.
US
v Beaufils
Guilty
Sherley Beaufils, NP, was found guilty by a jury of identity theft and fraud. She signed unnecessary orders for orthotic braces for people she never saw nor spoke to. She also faked medical records and her fake orders were sold to companies that would bill Medicare.
US
v Truglia
Sentenced
Patsy Truglia of Parkland, Florida was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his part in the illegal conspiracy to generate fraudulent orders for braces. He was also ordered to pay $18 million to the feds and forfeited over $10 million in seized property to pay for the redemption.
US
v Cardinal Health
Settlement
Cardinal Health agreed to pay $13 million to settle allegations that they illegally paid kickbacks to physicians by offering discounts for meds. This is a qui tam and the whistleblowers will get $2.6 million.
US
v Castro
Indicted
A grand jury in Michigan indicted Dr. Daniel Castro, now of Texas, of fraud and making false statements. The indictment claims that he did sinus surgery on patients that did not need the procedures. He is also accused of performing routine neck surgeries and billing them as radical surgery for cancer.
US
v Canova, Maldonado
Indicted
Drs. Eduardo Canova and Jose Maldonado along with others have been indicted in a kickback plan. The founders of several labs in Texas are accused of paying physicians for advisory fees in return for lab referrals.
US
v Godiali
Guilty
Dr. Vasso Godiali of Bay city, Michigan plead guilty of fraud. He over billed for stent placements and lied on the medical records to substantiate his billing.
US
v Vahedi
Sentenced
Los Angeles pharmacist Navid Vahedi was sentenced to 30 month in prison for providing physicians with check the box preprinted prescriptions for compounding meds. He and his pharmacy FusionRX Compounding were also ordered to repay $4,400,525.
US v
Catholic Medical Center
Settlement
The New Hampshire hospital agreed to pay $3.8 million to settle allegations that they provided free call coverage for a cardiologist to induce referrals. They paid their own cardiologist to cover for the another when she was on vacation or not available. She referred millions of dollars of referrals which were billed by the hospital and were illegal. Another physician blew the whistle and got his retirement fund paid for under the qui tam provisions.
US
v Ho
Sentenced
Dr. Yee Chung Ho of Murrysville, Pennsylvania, to probation and home detention as well as forfeiting his DEA license. He had plead guilty to dispensing narcotics to a patient that was not medically necessary and committing fraud.
US
v Agresti
Convicted
Dr. Mark Agresti of Palm Beach, Florida, was convicted by a jury of fraud. He was a medical director of Good Decisions Sober Living and provided standing orders for false urine testing for monthly payments. He also had patients sent to his office so he could bill individually for his medical director services.
US
v NCH Healthcare
Settlement
The Florida system that operates two hospitals agreed to pay $5.5 million to settle allegations that they made illegal donations in order to fund Medicaid payments to NCH. Top
Patients
v True Health New Mexico
Filed
Three patients sued the insurer for negligence in failing to protect their medical records and are looking, no surprise here, for a class action. They want five years of credit monitoring (two years had been offered) and of course the cost of bringing the lawsuit. As usual the plaintiffs would get bupkiss and the attorneys mucho dinero. Top
Adajar
v Baloga, Jr.
Filed
Dr. Mario Adajar filed a med mal case against Dr. Michael Baloga, Jr. for negligence in the treatment of his chronic foot ulcer. He claims that Dr. Baloga after attempting to remove the damaged tissue put him in a total contact cast. Dr. Adajar claims that this caused a foot infection that led to a leg amputation. Dr. Adajar is a diabetic and has had a kidney transplant. The total contact cast should not be used unless there is good circulation.
Patients v UCLA
Settlement
The University has agreed to pay close to $250 million to settle allegations that female patients were sexually abused by former employee Dr. James Heaps over a 35 year span. 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.