July 15, 2022 Recent Legal News
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US v Jankowski
Convicted
Dr. David Jankowslo pf Bingham farms, Michigan, was found guilty by a jury of writing unnecessary opioid prescriptions out of his clinic. He had billed insurers and had received approximately $35 million in this illegal scheme.
US v McDonald
Guilty
Tammy McDonald RN of Columbia, south Carolina, plead guilty to lying to federal agents regarding providing false covid cards. At that time she was the director of nursing at PruittHealth skilled nursing facility.
Michigan v Abed
Indicted
Dr. Husam Abed, a urogynecologist in Sterling Heights, Michigan, has been charged with a felony for practicing with a suspended license. He has also been charged by the medical board of negligence. He is alleged to provided pessarys for very young females who did not need them.
Great Briton v Mamman
Sentenced
Dr. Isyaka Mamman was sentenced to 3 years in prison after pleading guilty of manslaughter. He had been previously suspended for lying about his age. He is now 85. He did a sternal bone marrow sample and due to his using the wrong type needle pieced a person's pericardium and she died.
US v Hess
Guilty
Megan Hess of Montrose, Colorado, plead guilty of stealing bodies and body parts and selling them for educational purposes. Top
US v Santeiro
Sentenced
Dr. Jose Santeiro of Miami Lakes, Florida, was sentenced to 54 months in prison for billing for substance abuse services that were never provided or were medically unnecessary. He was a psychiatrist and a medical director of two substance abuse treatment centers. He and others paid recruiters to lure people into substance abuse programs that they did not need.
US v Balwani
Convicted
A jury convicted Ramesh "Sonny" Balwani, the former president of Theranos guilty of fraud. This comes six months after Elizabeth Homes was also found guilty of fraud for the Silicon Valley hoax.
US v Weirton Medical Center
Settlement
The West Virginia hospital agreed to pay $ 1.5 million to settle allegations that they billed for claims which violated the Stark law.
US v Bendelstein
Convicted
Dr. Harold Bendelstein of New York City was convicted for billing for procedures not performed. He billed for an incision procedure of the external ear but actually did ear exams with wax removal.
US v MorseLife Nursing Home Health
Systems
Settlement
The West Palm Beach facility paid $1.75 million to settle allegations that they gave Covid vaccines to people who did not come under the program. These people were mischaracterized as faculty but in fact were board members or donors.
US v Minga
Settlement
Phillip Minga, a pharmacist in Mississippi, had been found guilty of fraud by illegally billing fed med for claims that were not allowed due to his being removed from the programs. He was sentenced to 78 months in prison and is to repay $16.1 million in restitution. He was order to forfeit $7.1 million and has now paid the $7.1 million to the feds.
US v MCS advantage
Settlement
The Puerto Rican insurer has agreed to pay $4.2 million to settle allegations that they illegally used a gift card program to admin assistants of providers to induce them to refer to the organization.
US v Grant
Guilty
Tanya Grant of Raleigh, North Carolina, plead guilty of fraud. She was the CEO of two DME companies. She was paying companies in India and Pakistan to give her lists of Medicare patient names and identifying information. She then used this information to bill fed med for DME.
US v Segrest
Guilty
Justin Segrest a NP in Mount Airy, North Carolina, plead guilty to using his position as a telemedicine person to get information regarding patients and using that information to submit false claims for DME.
US v Reliance Medical Systems
Settlement
The spine company has agreed to pay $ 1 million to settle allegations that they gave illegal kickbacks to physicians to use their products.
US v Mazumder
Indicted
Dr. Sudipta Mazumder of Charlotte, North Carolina, was indicted for his alleged role in a DME scheme. She is alleged to have not examined the people she order the DME for. Top
Doe v Tenet Healthcare
Filed
A class action suit was fled against Tenet and its subsidy Baptist Health System in San Antonio. This is for negligence in not protecting patient's health information and tardiness in informing the patients. Top
Magallanes de Valle v doctors
Medical Center of Modesto
Cal App Ct.
The patient had been seeing Dr. Brock for a year. Dr. Brock did a hysterectomy on her at Doctor's Medical Center and was sued for alleged rectal injuries during the surgery. She also sued DMC as an ostensible agent as Dr. Brock was an independent practitioner. She signed an admission form stating that physicians were not employees of the hospital. The court ruled for the hospital and the patient appealed and lost.
Martindale v Indiana University
Health Bloomington Hospital
7th Circuit
The patient went to the hospital ED with severe abdominal paid. She was diagnosed with necrosis of the bowel from a prior gastric bypass surgery 10 years prior. The on call surgeon said he lacked the expertise to do the surgery nd recommended transfer to the original gastric bypass surgeon which was done. He operated and found the problems was not related to the prior surgery. She died two days later from sepsis. The husband sued for EMTALA violations of not stabilizing her. The trial court and the 7th Circuit both ruled for summary judgment for the hospital as they did everything right.
Lash v Sparta Community Hospital
District
7th Circuit
The patient went to the ED for shortness of breadth and was diagnosed with having an anxiety reaction. He had tests run and had an elevated blood sugar and WBC. The next day he had a cardiac event and died. The wife sued the physicians and the hospital. However, Illinois law immunizes public hospitals from liability from an employees diagnosis not treatment. Here there was an incorrect diagnosis and he received no treatment related to cardiac events. The hospital is immune.
Parfitt v Ambati, Community
Regional Medical Center, Chandrasoma
Filed
The plaintiff went to the hospital for a nephrectomy but had her spleen removed instead. She now has to return to the OR for her nephrectomy. It is still unknown who the actual surgeon was. The attorney for Dr. Ambati said that he was not the surgeon but that a locum tenens Dr. Chandrasoma was the surgeon. Top
Cameron v OSC
Settled
Dr. Robert Cameron was Chief of Thoracic Surgery at West Los Angeles VA who in 2018 disclosed two patient died from preventable anesthesia if anesthesiologists with greated thoracic training were available. He was then forced to resign. He filed a claim and was reinstated as Chief and received $100,000 bak pay and $20,000 in damages.
Bonzani v Goshen Health System
DC ND Indiana
Dr. Robert Bonzina, an employed urologist at the hospital, had a patient die and then had his surgical privileges suspended. The hospital and Dr. Bonzani signed a separation agreement and the hospital reported his suspension to the NPDB. Bonzini then sued for materially breaking the agreement by submitting the report which allegedly included false statements. Bonzini wanted information from the hospital regarding his peer review process and also others in a ten year period. The court said he could get his own but not the reports on others in the ten year period. He could ask how many peer review the hospital convened in the ten years and the outcomes. 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.