November 15, 2023 Recent Legal News
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Texas v Holmes
Sentenced
Dr. Michael Holmes of Beaumont plead guilty in 2018 to sexually assaulting a patient. He is now been sentenced to six months in prison and five years deferred probation. He also has to pay a $2500 fine. The victim is adamantly opposed to the plea deal and wants a full trial.
Tennessee v Birmingham
Indicted
Alton Birmingham RN has ben indicted by the Wilson County Grand Jury of unlawful distribution of narcotics. He saw patients when the physician was not in the office and called in prescriptions using the physician's DEA number.
US v Bashir
Convicted
Hasna Bashir, the owner of Beacon Pointe Pharmacy in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, was convicted by a jury on 26 charges of unlawful distribution of narcotics. She filled forged prescriptions knowing they were faked.
US v Louisville
Guilty
Dr. Tommy Louisville, a Florida physician, plead guilty to unlawful drug distribution. He had had his DEA license suspended in 2019 but continued to write prescriptions for narcotics.
Massachusetts v Kauff
Indicted
Dr. Richard Kauff, a Norwell pediatriciation, has been accused of rape and sexual assault. It is alleged that he placed his vinger inside the vagina of two female patients during a routine physical exam.
Nevada v Mederos
Sentenced
Ricardo Mederos RN was sentenced to two years in prison for sexually assaulting a cancer patient who was sedated at Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas. He touched her breast and performed a sex act in front of her. Her napkin and face mask tested positive for semen.
US v Pettyjohn, Gallaher
Indicted
Dr. Janet Pettyjohn and her granddaughter Shelly Gallagher of Spring Hill, Florida, were accused of illegal distribution of narcotics. Pettyjohn had her DEA license restricted in 2020 until 2021. She prescribed narcotics to Gallagher and others for no legitimate medical reason and the people used and diverted the drugs. Pettyjohn has plead guilty but Gallagher has not yet been arraigned. Top
US v Hochman
Indicted
Dr. Michael Hochman, an ophalmologist in Loredo, Texas, has been indicted for fraud. He is accused of billing for falsely diagnosing patients with degenerative eye conditions and doing procedures on those patients.
US v Lubin
Settlement
Dr. Edward Lubin, a pain management physician, agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle allegations that he billed for fentanyl prescriptions that were the result of kickbacks. He was paid for sham events and then started to prescribe Subsys.
US v Carlson
Indicted
Dr. Ray Carlson of Kenai, Alaska, was indicted on felony fraud charges. He is accused of falsely and over billing.
US v Kazkaz
Sentenced
Mohamed Kazkaz was sentenced to 90 months in prison after pleading guilty to fraud and money laundering. He owned Centre HRW, a psychotherapy agency in Farmington Hills, Michigan, that paid bribes for patients and billed for services not rendered or were not eligible for reimbursement. He also will forfeit $5.3 million.
US v Kinrys
Convicted
Dr. Gustavo Kinrys, a psychiatrist in Natick, Massachusetts, was convicted by a jury of fraud. He billed for services not rendered for sham transcranial magnetic stimulation services.
US v Putnam Community Medical
Center
Settlement
The Palatka, Florida, hospital and its parent agreed to pay $1 million to resolve allegations that they billed for sleep center services that were operated with inadequate physician supervision.
US v Watson
Convicted
Dr. Henry Watson, in Oakland, California, was convicted by a jury of accepting kickbacks for referrals to home health agencies.
US v Akula
Convicted
A federal jury in New Orleans has convicted Shiva Akula, who owned and operated a hospice. He was convicted of billing fed med illegally for upcoded procedures. He had the H&P forms copied by family members as if they wee done at the facility when in fact they were the procedures done by others. He also billed for home visits as if they were done by a physician even though they were done by a nurse.
US v Genesis Reference Laboratory
Settlement
The laboratory paid $1,195,845 to settle allegations that they paid kickbacks to providers to induce them to refer patients to their lab.
US v Syed, Syed
Settlement
Dr. Saima Syed and Rehan Syed alsong with Atlanta Medical and Aesthetic Center have agreed to pay $225,000 to settle allegations that they billed for medical office visits that were not medically necessary. This was upcoding and billing for her services when she was out of the country. This was a qui tam suit by former employees. Top
US v Drogueria Betances
Consent Decree
The Puerto Rican court ordered the large distributor of drugs to pay $12 million and make changes to its compliance program. The is to resolve allegations that they failed to report to the DEA suspicious orders for narcotics.
Bayer v California
9th Circuit
The court upheld an injunction against California requiring businesses oo warn customers that glyphosate, the ingredient in Roundup, causes cancer.
Disability Rights California v
Alameda County
Intervention
The feds have filed to intervene in this case that is settling. The allegations are that Alameda County has failed to provide mental health services appropriate to their needs and instead hospitalized the people.
Gregory v Queens Medical Center
Britain Ct of Appeal
Indi Gregory is a 8 month old who has mitochondrial disease. The parents wanted to bring the child to Rome for treatment but the courts have thwarted that request. The court now ruled that the infant should be taken off life support and she was transferred to a hospice immediately and her life support was removed. Top
Doctors Management Services, a Massachusetts company, has agreed to pay a fine of $100,000 for its negligent handling of security and allowing a ransomware attack. Top
Kowalski v Johns Hopkins All
Children's Hospital
Jury Verdict
A jury has ruled that the hospital must pay $220 million for calling a child abuse hotline on her as well as false imprisonment along with pain and suffering. This case was the topic iof a movie on Netflix. The mother had requested high doses of ketamine for her daughter for chronic pain. Later the jury upped the ante to $261 million for punitive damages. This huge verdict will be paid with some insurance but Florida will not allow insurance to pay any of the $50 million punitive damage award. This will also lead to higher policy payments for future insurance. Following the verdict the now 20 year old filed a separate criminal complaint against the hospital alleging sexual abuse.
Meyer v Rady Children's Hospital
Filed
Maybe it is the water in the San Diego area. Several years ago a San Diego hospital had to pay a large sum to an anesthesiologist who they secretly videotaped. Now another San Diego hospital is being sued for secretly taping a family. The child had significant injuries and had been diagnosed with Ehlos Danlos Syndrome. She was eventually transferred to Rady Children's Hospital for care. The parents stayed with her. What no one knew is that they were secretly being watched and taped for 38 days. The hospital has a person who is into child protection and when you are a hammer all you see is a nail. She ordered the surveillance to rule out Munchausen syndrome by proxy. However, 38 days is way to long to spy. Although the secret taping showed nothing against the parents and nothing to support the Munchausen's diagnosis the person reported the parents to the authorities and the child was removed from the parents, except for supervised visits, for almost a year. The parents and the child who is now 20 years old have separately sued the hospital. The court has tossed some of the verbiage causes of action but left the most important one, a violation of the 4th amendment. Top
Patients v Montana
Filed
Three patient families filed a federal lawsuit against the state and its Department of Public Health for negligence in the adult psychiatric facility in Warm Springs. They alleged that their family members were mistreated in various ways by the facility.
Decker v University of Iowa
Iowa State Appeal board
Decker went to the University for an MRI and had gadobuterol injected. She had problems immediately. Eight minutes later a code blue was called. She was coded for 40 minutes and then sent to the ED. She died. The family sued and finally settled for $2 million.
Piano v University of Washington
Filed
George Piano went to the ED for abdominal pain. He was diagnosed with acute appendicitis and taken to surgery for appendectomy. The surgeons removed part of his bowel instead and post-op he had more abdominal pain. He was taken back to surgery two days later for removal of his appendix and diverticular colon. He then leaked stool again and need still another surgery. Top
Joyner v Mayo Clinic
Filed
Dr. Michael Joyner was a principal investigator of a government funded study regarding a Covid treatment and was frustrated by the NIH's red tape and slow responses. He said so. He also did a whistleblower against the Clinic and was reprimanded for that. He has suspended for his NIH outburst. After he was suspended 33 professors from Harvard, Yale and Columbia along with other institutions wrote a letter protesting his suspension. He has now filed a suit against the clinic for violating his free speech.
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.