July 15, 2021 Recent Legal News
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Patients v US
Settlement
The feds have paid about $17 million to settle claims by patients of sexual abuse by a former physician assistant at the Dwight Eisenhower VA Medical Center in Leavenworth, Kansas, Mark Wisner.
US v Mazi
Arrested
Dr. Juli Mazi, a naturopath in Napa, California, has been arrested for allegedly selling fake vaccination cards. She also is accused of selling homeoprophylaxis pellets she claimed would provide life immunity to Covid. Top
US
v Akron General Health System
Settlement
The Akron system agreed to pay over $21 million to settle allegations that they billed illegally for claims after they violated the Anti Kickback rules. The paid physicians for referrals by purchasing physician groups with over the top prices. This is a qui tam case by the former Director of Internal Audit at the system. Big payday for her and it could not happen to a better institution. This is the same system that had to eat crow for their dastardly ED policies several years ago.
US
v Connecticut Addiction Medicine
Settlement
The group and its owners Dr. Jay Benson and Mahboob Aslam have agreed to pay just over $1 million to settle allegations that they billed for unnecessary drug urine tests. They did presumptive tests in their offices but sent the same samples out routinely for definitive tests and received the results back within four days.
US v Sherwani
Settlement
Jawed Sherwani, the owner of Beckley Pharmacy and Bee Well Pharmacy in the Charleston, West Virginia area agreed to pay $300,000 to settle allegations that the pharmacies filled prescriptions for controlled substances that they knew or should have known were not legitimate.
US
v Plum Healthcare
Settlement
The owner of the the second largest skilled nursing facility in California has agreed to pay $451,000 to settle allegations that they had an employee who created false billing records for services not provided. The group did not do an adequate investigation of the conduct and refused to refund the money.
US
v Surgical Care Affiliates, Orlando Surgery Center for Outpatient Surgery
Settlement
The center agreed to pay $3.4 million to settle allegations that they violated the kickback rules by paying urologist Dr. Patrick Hunter money to perform his lithotripsy procedures at the center and then billing for those procedures. Dr. Hunter's estate paid the feds $1/75 million to settle these claims. The qui tam in this case will get $748,000.
US
v Alshalabi
Indicted
Fadel Alshalabi of Waxhaw, North Carolina, was indicted for allegedly as the owner of Crestar Labs of violating the anti kickback statute. He allegedly recruited fed med patients to get their DNA for genetic tests. Marketers swabbed people's mouths at street fairs etc. and were paid for their effort as were physicians for ordering the tests. He allegedly then billed for the tests but never shared the information with the patients nor their physicians.
US v St.
Jude Medical
Settlement
The company has agreed to pay $27 million to settle allegations that they knowingly sold defective heart devices that were implanted and billed to fed med.
US
v Alere
Settlement
The company has agreed to pay $38.75 million to settle allegations that they knowingly sold diagnostic devices that were defective. These were the monitors for blood coagulation.
US
v Avanos Medical
Settlement
The company has agreed to pay $22 million to settle criminal charges that they misbranded surgical gowns with the intend to mislead.
Florida
v Citrin
Guilty
Dr. Max Citrin of Palm Beach plead guilty of insurance fraud. He improperly prescribed controlled substances to people in sober homes and billed insurance companies routinely over $2,000 per patient for unnecessary allergy testing and treatment. His sentence will be 30 months inp prison, 5 years probation, payment of $30,000 for investigative costs and restitution of $2.5 million. Top
Texas
v Gokal
Case Dismissed
In what Dr. Hasan Gokel's attorney says was a colossal waste of time the grand jury refused to indict Dr. Gokal for his terrible deed of taking a vial of Covid vaccine that was going to expire and using it on people who need it. The local DA needs to be castrated for this.
Judge
Rotenberg Educational Center v FDA
DC Circuit
The DC Circuit overturned the FDA ban on using electric shock devices to correct self-harming behavior in both children and adults. There is only one facility in the country that uses the devices for that purpose the Massachusetts facility. The rationale was that the FDA is legally barred from regulating the practice of medicine. Only the states can do that.
Davis
v Physician Assistant Board
Ca App Ct
PA Rodney Davis learned liposuction and opened his own practice. He hired a retired physician who had never performed lip to be his supervisor and called himself the Director of Surgery. He performed all the procedures. He had his license revoked and sued. He lost.
Policyholders
v CalPERS
Settlement
In yet another scam CalPERS raised the price of their long term care insurance years ago illegally. They were sued in a class action and have now settled. The settlement is $2.7 Billion. They do not have to pay anything as the taxpayers will need to pay for their folly. All those who extra for an inflation protection benefit will get all their premiums returned. Those who do not accept the terms faced an additional 90% increase in their premiums starting later this year. Those who have already started to draw can get their over pay back but not their original premiums. Top
Patients
v Dominion National
Settlement
Dominion National settled a class action suit that they learned about a nine year breach of their records in 2019. The company will pay $100 in lost time and cover up to $300 per person of losses for out of pocket expenses. They will also pay up to $7500 for extraordinary expenses. The aggregated compensation is capped at $2 million.
Plaintiffs
v BJC Healthcare
A judge dismissed the class action suit against the company where three employee email accounts were hacked and the PMI of patients were exposed. The judge said the breach of privacy and bailment claims were dismissed as plaintiffs did not show the act was intentional and that the system failed to return the PMI. BJC still faces eight other counts in the suit including negligence and breach of contract.
US v Cervantes
Sentenced
Demetrius Cervantes of McKinney, Texas, was sentenced to 48 months in prison for stealing PMI, repackaging the information and selling it to DME providers. Top
Patients
v University Hospitals
To Be Filed
In a major screw-up a kidney was transplanted into a wrong patient. Fortunately the kidney was compatible. Two caregivers are now on administrative leave and the original recipient is still awaiting a kidney.
Patients
v UCLA
Settlement
A federal judge has signed off on the $73 million deal between the university and the women who sued over being sexually abused by Dr. James Heaps, the campus gyne. All would get $2500 and those who wish may seek up to $250,000. 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.