February 15, 2024 Recent Legal News
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US v Mohanty
Acquitted
A judge acquitted Dr. Sudita Mohanty of Cambridge, Massachusetts, of lewd and indecent acts. He had been arrested after a teenage girl had accused him of masturbating while sitting next to her on a flight. He was on the flight with his fiancé and his story was agreed to by passengers around him.
Smithers v US
4th Circuit
Dr. Joel Smithers had been convicted of selling narcotics for no medical reason and sentenced to 20 years in prison had his conviction overturned and a new trial ordered. The problem was that following his conviction and sentencing a Supreme Court ruling came down stating that the crime of prescribing controlled substances requires that the prescriber to knowingly or intentionally act in an unauthorized manner. Smithers may have been convicted for solely acting outside the bounds of medical practice.
New York v Miller
Arraigned
Dr. Stephen Miller of Tucson, Arizona, was arrested for helping in the suicide of a patient. The 85 year old former physician and advocate was charged with manslaughter. He plead not guilty.
US v Mendez
Guilty
Dr. Leovares Mendez of Dallas was found guilty by a jury of prescribing and distributing narcotics with no medical reason. His co-defendant Dr. Cesar Pena-Rodriguez, plead guilty several days earlier.
US v Compton, Lambert
Convicted
Dr. Crystal Compton and Kayla Lambert RN of Pikeville, Kentucky, were convicted by a jury of conspiracy to illegally write prescriptions for narcotics and unlawful distribution.
US v Evers
Sentenced
Dr. Martin Evers of Pike County, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 264 months in prison for unlawfully prescribing narcotics in which one patient died. He is also to pay $50,000 fine and have three years probation.
Minnesota v Broker
Guilty
Cambie Broker RN, a case manager at a hospice in Baxter admitted to sending fake prescriptions to an e-prescribing software to get narcotics.
US v Sved
Indicted
Dr. Isaac Sved of Gainesville, Georgia, was indicted for allegedly running a pill mill out of his medical offices.
US v Shafa
Convicted
Dr. Rahim Shafa of Lexington, Massachusetts, was convicted of illegally importing drugs and selling the illegal drugs along with money laundering. Shafa is a psychiatrist and owner of Novel Psychopharacology. The drug imported was not FDA approved. Top
US v v MultiCare Health System
Filed
A cause of action was filed against the Tacoma system and MultiCare Deaconess Hospital for knowingly endangering patients and falsely billing fed med. This stems from the medical care by Dr. Jason Dreyer, neurosurgeon. Dr. Dreyer was at Walla Walla Providence St. Mary's Hospital and resigned after being accused of performing unnecessary surgery, falsifying diagnoses and harming patients. After that resignation he was hired to perform neurosurgery at Multicare. The hospital became aware of problems and continued to allow him to practice since he was creating good revenue for the hospital. An investigation by MultiCare ended up allowing him to continue his surgeries. They billed for these unnecessary surgeries.
US v Nassenstein
Filed
The feds filed charges of violation of the False Claims Act against Rick Nassenstein, a Florida resident and the former president of Illinois based Cardiac Imaging Inc. They alleged that he was central in a scheme that paid major fees to physicians for supervising the cardiac PET exams but were actually doing other things. This is a qui tam case.
US v McMiller
Guilty
Dr. William McMiller of Oak Park, Illinois, plead guilty of theft of government property. He submitted claims for psychotherapy that were never performed. He was sentenced to probation.
US v Penn State Health
Settlement
The organization has agreed to pay $11.7 million to settle allegations that they submitted claims for wellness visits that were not supported by medical records. Top
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers v US
DC Texas
A federal judge dismissed the suit by the Pharma against the Biden administration for their new program that allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices. He dismissed the suit because it had not been heard prior by an administrative review by CMS. Other Pharmas have been allowed to proceed with their cases filed in other jurisdictions. Top
HHS v Montefiore Medical Center
Settlement
The hospital agreed to pay $4.75 million to settle allegations that they had security lapses that allowed an employee to steal PHI over a six month period. Top
Nurses v Steward Carney Hospital, Walczak
Verdict
Nine former nurses sued the hospital and the former CEO Bill Walczak for defamation and retaliation when 31 employees were fired many years ago. The case finally came to trial and the nurses lost a jury decision. The attorney for the nurses is asking for a new trial. Top
Ross v Southern Regional Medical Center, St. Julian
Filed
The parents of a child who was apparently decapitated during delivery are suing the hospital and the physician, Dr. Tracey St. Julian for malpractice. The baby is alleged to have a sudden shoulder dystocia and it is alleged that the physician pulled too hard during the attempted vaginal delivery and decapitated the baby. The plaintiffs say that during the ensuing C-Section the legs and torso were delivered and then the head delivered vaginally.
Edwards v Knoxville, Tennessee, Fort Sanders Regional
Medical Center
Filed
The son of Lisa Edwards filed a federal EMTALA law suit against the above plus others after his mother was allegedly accused of faking her illness and escorted by security out of the hospital. She had been evaluated and discharged but would not leave. She was dead the next day.
Patients v Thompson IV
Indicted
Dr. William Thompson IV of Newport Beach was arrested in September 2023 and charged with sexual crimes. Now a civil suit has been filed by 72 patients accusing him of sexual crimes against them. He is an Infectious Disease physician who had a private practice and also worked at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, He treated many gay men in his practice.
Sultzer v Intuitive Surgical Inc
Filed
Sultzer filed suit after he claims the company failed to warn his wife of the potential problems with the da Vinci robot. He claims they also did not safely design the product and failed to train the surgeons on the proper use of the instrument. His wife had colon cancer surgery in 2021 and had a thermal injury to her small intestine that required more intervention and ultimately her death. They claim this is not an isolated injury and the Intuitive is now involved in 93 product liability suits. The company has said that the problem is with a rubber sleeve that could easily be replaced.
Nunez de Avelar v Wilkes, Summerlin Hospital Medical
Center
Filed
The patient had a C section 18 years ago and claims a surgical sponge was left inside her abdomen. The lap sponge was surgically removed. Top
McCarthy v Mass General
Filed
Florrie McCarthy, RN, of Braintree, Massachusetts, was a nurse at the hospital. She was fired for refusing a Covid booster even though she had an adverse reaction to the first two doses. The hospital required all employees to receive the booster with no exceptions. She provided a note from the hospital's Department of Neurology saying they cannot rule out the Covid vaccine has contributed to some of the patient's neurological symptoms. Sounds like a good case. 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.