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New York v Blatti
Indicted
Dr. George Blatti of Nassau, New York, was indicted on five counts of murder in the second degree under the theory of depraved indifference to human life. He is alleged to have prescribed huge quantities of opioids and other drugs that led to the deaths of five patients. This may be the first murder charges ever levied for this behavior in the state and will be very difficult to prove. This is an upgrade from a 2019 indictment for the same offenses.
US v Catania
Guilty
Dr. Raymond Catania, a cardiologist in Warren, New jersey, plead guilty of unlawfully prescribing Oxycodone without a legitimate medical purpose.
US v Hoffman
Arrested
Lisa Hoffman of Orange, New Jersey, was arrested and accused of theft. It is alleged that she while working as a pharmacy tech at the VA in Orange stole prescription HIV meds worth over $8 million. She allegedly then sold the meds to a confederate who then resold them to others.
US v Robinson
Sentenced
David Robinson, a pharmacist in Baltimore, was sentenced to 171 months in prison and forfeiture of many items and cash. He had pleaded guilty of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and alprazolan and for murder for hire. He ordered a hit on those he believed cooperated with law leading to his indictment. He has also lost his pharmacy license. Top
US v Allergy and Asthma Associates
Settlement
The Roanoke, Virginia, medical practice agreed to pay $2.1 million to resolve the civil charges for billing for procedures not performed. The practice had already plead guilty to criminal fraud. They used part of a vial of a medication and then used the remaining part for another patient. They billed as if each one used a full vial.
US v Rashid
Sentenced
Mashiyat Rashid was the CEO of Tri-County Wellness group in Michigan and Ohio. He used his position for developing and approving a corporate policy to administer unnecessary back injections for opioid prescriptions. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay $51 million in restitution plus the forfeiture of all property traceable to illegal gains.
US v Farizani, Razavi, Hajjar
Acuna
Indicted
Dr. Farrah Farizani, Hamid Razavi , Elie Hajjar and Juan Acuna all of Houston were indicted for fraud. Farizani was the medical director and Razavi was the owner of a Hillcroft Physicians and the others were unlicensed practitioners at the clinic. They are accused of billing for services provided by unlicensed providers.
US v Siefert, Ehn
Indicted
Drs. William Siefert of Dayton, Ohio and Timothy Ehn of Union, Kentucky, were indicted on illegally prescribing and fraud in their Northern Kentucky Center for Pain Relief. They allegedly gave out opiods and also charged fed med for millions of dollars in medically unnecessary urinalyses.
US v Kuper
Sentenced
Mark Kuper, DO, of Fort Worth, Texas, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for healthcare fraud. He was the owner of the Texas Center for Orthopedic and Spinal Disorders. He plead guilty to conspiring with his wife Melissa, a physical therapist, and billed for bogus appointments required for people who wanted illegal opioids.
US v Mokbel, Elsafty
Arrested
Mohamed Mokbel and Fathy Elsafty of Houston were arrested on fraud charges. Mokbel is the owner of 4M Pharmaceuticals with several Houston pharmacies and Elsafty is his accountant. The pharmacy was an outbound telemarketing call center that solicited patients nationwide for medical unnecessary medical supplies. even if the customer refused they allegedly billed for supplies . It is alleged that they garnered over $113 million from this enterprise.
US v Qin
Settlement
Dr. Feng Qin, a vascular surgeon in New York, settled civil and criminal fraud charges alleging he did and billed for vascular fistulagrams not needed on dialysis patients. He agreed to pay $783,200 which may rise to $800,000. He is also banned from fed med for four years. These were done as a matter of routine not for any Medicare approved reason.
US v A Perfect Fit for You, Inc.
Settlement
The North Carolina DME company agreed to pay $2 million in fines and an additional $10 million in restitution to settle civil claims that they submitted fraudulent claims for DME for patients that never ordered nor received the DME. Many millions of dollars more are to be paid by the owner Margaret Gibson.
US v Bioventus
The North Carolina medical technology company agreed to pay $3.6 million to settle allegations that they submitted improper completed certificates of medical necessity for devices. Their reps were filling out forms that physicians were supposed to complete.
US v Gilbert
Indicted
Susan Gilbert, the former administrator of Mount Lebonon Rehabilitation and Wellness Center in Pennsylvania, was indicted on charges of fraud. She is accused of falsifying records to give the appearance that facility met federal and state staffing requirements.
US v McElroy pharmacy
Settlement
The Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, pharmacy agreed to pay $2.9 million to resolve allegations that they illegally dispensed opioids and falsely billed fed med. The pharmacy is now out of the dispensing narcotic business forever and its owner Jeffery Eshelman is barred from fed med for nine years.
US v Kumar
Settlement
Dr. Ashok Kumar of Los Angeles agreed to pay $215,228 to settle allegations that he was paid for referrals to Memorial Hospital of Gardena. This is a whistleblower case and the last of the allegations against multiple defendants. The others settled earlier for $8.1 million.
US v Besen
Guilty
Dr. Lee Besen of Waverly, Pennsylvania, plead guilty to bribery and kickback to physicians. He is a Scranton GP and accepted kickbacks for collecting DNA samples and sending them for genetic tests which were not needed.
US v Obuz
Settlement
Dr. Vedat Obuz and the Lotus Clinics of New Jersey agreed to pay $106,255 to settle allegations that they billed for procedures done by nurse practitioners as if they were done by Obuz.
Florida v Suarez
Arrested
Julio Suarez, of Tallahassee was arrested. He is a dental hygienist who was posing as a dentist and billing the Medicaid program.
US v Olglethorpe, Inc
Settlement
The Ohio corporation and its subsidies agreed to pay $10.25 million to settle allegations that they violated the FCA by improperly providing free long distance transportation for patients and admitting patients who did not need admissions.
US v An
Indicted
Houston Chiropractor Suhyun An was indicted for billing for the implantation of neurostimultor electrodes which were never implanted. In fact they are accused of only applying electo-acupuncture needles. Top
HHS v Great Lakes Surgical
Associates
Settlement
The Michigan practice was accused of discriminating against a black man with HIV. It is alleged that they refused to evaluate or provide surgery due to his HIV status. The practice paid $37,000 to him and ageed not to bad people again. Top
Patients v Cochise Eye and Laser
To Be Filed
The Sierra Vista, Arizona, clinic was hacked for ransom and the records o about 100,000 patients were put in jeopardy. They are NOW doing a better security and getting a new off site data back up. Should not have happened.
Patients v Rehoboth McKinley
Christian Health Care
To Be Filed
Another small facility was hacked for ransom. The Gallup, New Mexico, facility was hacked and the hospital employees information was put online. They have NOW implemented additional security measures.
Patients v AllyAlign Health
To Be Filed
The Virginia health plan said that it was hacked last year and information on over 33,000 patients were jeopardized.
Patients v Petersburg Medical
Center
To Be Filed
This Alaska hospital had an employee snooping on medical records for three years without knowing it. Once they found out from another employee the snooper was fired and they are NOW getting a new EHR.
Patients v MultiCare
To Be Filed
The Tacoma company's Woodcreek Provider Services contracts with vendor Netgain Technology who was hit with ransomware and the information of over 210,000 people were exposed.
Patients v Humana
To Be Filed
A subcontractor Cotiviti had an employee inappropriately disclose information to unapproved individuals for training purposes. About 4100 individuals information were compromised. Top
Grages v Geisinger Health
MD Pa
Donovan was transported via helicopter to the trauma center was admitted and had surgery to repair orbital fractures from blunt force trauma. Eight days later she was discharged and found the following day deceased due to multiple drug toxicities of her own doing. The family sued claiming non-stabilization and state law claims. The court rightly said there were no EMTALA claims as the hospital had rightly admitted the deceased and dismissed all claims. Let us hope the attorney lost a lot of money for the federal suit. 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.