July 15, 2015 Recent Legal News
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US v Fata
Sentenced
Dr. Farid Fata age 50 of Metro Detroit has been sentenced to 45 years in prison. This person who should not be called a physician told people they had cancer when they did not and treated them to gain money. His victims call him a monster and who am I to disagree. There were over 500 people who he scammed for monetary gain and putting the patients at risk.
US v Desai
Sentenced
In another case where the physician harmed patients for profit, Dr. Dipak Desai age 65 of Las Vegas was sentenced to 71 months in prison. He had an endoscopy center that reused syringes that led to an outbreak of Hepatitis. He had previous ly been sentenced in state court with life in prison with the possibility of parole in 18 years. This federal sentencing will run concurrent and he will be credited for the 30 months already spent behind bars. the feds also ordered him to pay $2.2 million in restitution to the feds and another $2.2 million to the insurance companies he defrauded. Desai has suffered three strokes and has mental problems at present. He lost his license in 2008.
US v Community Health
Settlement
The hospital system settled allegations that it falsely billed for surgery at surgical centers as if they were performed in hospitals. They say that if there were errors they were not intentional. That's the reason they are paying over $20 million.
US v Florida Healthcare Plus
Guilty
In a strange fraud, the HMO falsely signed up citizens living in Nicaragua as well as non-citizens living there for Medicare. The people were actually treated by physicians although they had lost their US licenses. This case was against the procurers of the fraud, the physicians and the owners of the HMO. They were all guilty and some were sent to jail.
US v Toumey Health System
4th Circuit
In the largest verdict ever against a health system the court upheld the feds $237 million judgment against the health system. The health system attempted to fight instead of settling and now has a judgment higher than its annual revenue. They foolishly gave kickbacks to physicians and then billed Medicare illegally for claims submitted by those physicians. They said their attorneys gave them advice on how to do this and they just followed it. This sounds like Germans in post WWII following orders. This is a whistleblower case from a physician who refused to settle with the hospital. He is going to be a very rich person. Top
American Federation of Government
Employees v OPM
Filed
The largest union has sued the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for its 4.2 million person and a second 18 million person breach of confidentiality. They want a jury trial against OPM Director Katherine Archuleta and OPM Chief Information Officer Donna Seymour. They were the idiots that did not heed the warnings provided by several inspector generals. Archuleta has been fired by Obama. Top
Antoniewicz v U of Texas Health
& Sci Ctr Houston
SD Texas
Two female physicians were let go one month after complaining their salaries were less than their male counterparts. They sued for gender discrimination under Title IX. They also claimed the administrators retaliated against them to chill their freedom of speech. The court dismissed the former due to the statute of limitations. They allowed the suit against the administrators in their individual capacities under Section 1983 since they were not allowed qualified immunity. The dispute about pay and discrimination were public concerns. The timeline was enough to plead a claim.
Faircloth v Florida Hospital
Filed
Two class action law suits have been filed against the system for HIPAA breach. Two employees in 2011 accessed files and sold information to attorneys and chiropractors. Another breach happened in 2014 where two other employees accessed information on 9000 patients. The cases are separate and handled by different firms. the hospital states that the cases are missing an important aspect, nobody has suffered a loss.
Fahlen v Sutter Memorial Medical
Center Modesto
Trial Court
Dr. Fahlen continues to beat Sutter in their kangaroo court and in the court of public opinion. His latest victory is the overturning of the hospital's removing him fro the staff. Sutter is considering an appeal but Fahlen has also filed suit against Sutter for whistleblowing and may get damages. His attorney Steve Schear, who usually represents medical staffs, is doing a great job for the physician. Fahlen had reported the poor nursing at the hospital but instead of looking into the report thee hospital went after Fahlen. Fahlen won in the peer review setting but the hospital went against its bylaws and took away his privileges. He continued on staff at a nearby competitor's hospital showing that he is a competent physician. Top
Doctors Hospital at Renaissance v
Andrade
Tex App Ct
The parents of a child injured at birth sued the physicians and hospital. The physician involved was a limited partner in the corporation that owned the hospital. The hospital moved for summary judgment since the limited partnership is not able to practice medicine and the physician was not acting in the scope of his limited partnership at the time of the injury. The Appellate Court said there was an issue of fact as to whether the physician was acting on behalf of the partnership.
Stingley v Texas Health Arlington
Memorial Hospital
Filed
The article is about a woman who has a seizure at home and comes to the ED. She is worked up and the plaintiff's attorney says the "x-rat" clearly shows bleeding into the brain. The patient was diagnosed with a sinus infection and discharged. She had another seizure hours later and died. The attorney states that if properly diagnosed she could have been "easily treated and alive today". He also wants this suit to change the laws that "protect physicians from malpractice suits. Any side bets he loses the case.
Kalitan v North Broward Hospital
District
Florida Ct App
Kalitan is a nurse who went into the hospital for a carpal tunnel procedure. She had general anesthesia with a resultant perforated esophagus. She needed several emergency surgeries and a three week induced coma. She sued and the lower court jury gave her $4.7 million of which $4 million was in non economic damages. The court reduced the award according to the law by about $2 million. The appeal followed and the appellate court reinstated the jury verdict ruling that the caps were unconstitutional. They are against the equal protection of the Florida constitution. The Florida Supreme Court ruled the same way a year prior in a case resulting in a wrongful death. Top
US v Han
Sentenced
Dong Han was sentenced to 4 1/2 year in prison for duping the feds out of over $7 million by faking lab data. He had previous resigned fro Iowa State in disgrace pled guilty to the fraud. 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.