October 15, 2019 Recent Legal News
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Wisconsin
v Kaphaem
Arrested
During a bail hearing the bail was revoked and Christopher Kaphaem was taken into custody. During the hearing he admitted and described confirmed injuring nine infants in Meriter Hospital NICU.
US
v Smithers
Sentenced
Dr. Joel Smithers of Martinsville, Virginia, was sentenced to 40years in prison for prescribing opioids as part of an interstate drug ring.
US v Davidhizer
Arrested
Dr. Lavern Davidhizer of Soldana, Alaska, was arrested for prescribing narcotics without a medical reason. He was fined in the past for the same thing.
US v
Spayd
Arrested
Jessica Spayd, a NP in Anchorage, Alaska, was arrested for wring a huge number of prescriptions for narcotics that the authorities say directly contributed to 19 deaths including five in one day.
Florida v Boulton
Arrested
Ena Boulton was arrested after a woman she gave butt injections to went into a coma. She used black market fillers. This happened one year ago and she was arrested now as the woman injected has now awoken from the medical induced coma.
Patients
v Cooperman
Filed
Dr. Stuart Cooperman was a pediatrician in New York who for 35 years was a pediatrician in Long Island. In 2005, at the age of 65, he had his license removed after multiple complaints of sexual abuse of his patients. No criminal charges were filed. He is now being sued by many former patients for monetary damages for these abuses. New York put in a law making this possible. The women may sue and win but will get almost no money.
US v
Burke
Guilty
Dr. Paul Burke of Parkersburg, West Virginia, plead guilty of prescribing narcotics for no legitimate medical purposes. He worked at the Charleston HOPE Clinic for two years. He was at the pain clinic even though he was an ED physician and had no training in pain management. Top
US v Byrns
Indicted
David Byrns, the past CEO of Putnam County Missouri Memorial Hospital, was indicted for fraud for billing for lab tests on patients never seen at the hospital.
US v 35
Indicted
Thirty five people were indicted for an alleged fraudulent genetic cancer scheme. This includes nine physicians. It is alleged that CGx labs paid physicians for referrals for un-needed genetic testing.
US v Kline
Settlement
Dr. Glenn Kline paid $4.25 million to resolve allegations that he received kickbacks from two hospitals run by HMA in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He was being paid huge amounts to be employed by the hospitals. This was a qui tam from two hospital execs who will get just over $1 million for their share of the take.
US v Lakeway Regional Medical
Center
Indictment
A complaint has been isssued against the medical center along with others for misusing funds obtained and then insured by the FHA.
US v Fresenius
Settlement
The company has agreed to pay the feds $5.2 million to settle allegations that they tested patients for Hepatitis B more often than necessary and billed Medicare for the unnecessary tests.
US v Retina Institute of
California Medical Group
Settlement
The Southern California group agreed to pay the feds $6,353,410 and California $296.000 for billing for unnecessary eye exams, improperly waiving co-pays along with up-coding. This was a qui tam filed by prior administrators of the practice.
US v Hamilton
Convicted
Dr. Yolanda Hamilton of Harris County, Texas, was convicted of Medicare fraud for signing forms that said patients were qualified for home health when they were not. She was paid illegally by the home health companies.
Kenney v ABIM
DC ED Penn
Three internists sued the ABIM under the Sherman Antitrust Act and lost on all counts. The judge dismissed all counts against the ABIM for their onerous Board certifications and re-certification processes. The ABIM, under pressure, did loosen some of the requirements but not enough. Top
Patients v Goshen Health
To Be Filed
The health network said a third party may have hacked two email accounts for several weeks putting the information of unknown amount of patients at potential risk.
Patients v University of Alabama
Birmingham
To Be Filed
UAB has notified 20,000 people that their data has been exposed to hackers after multiple employees responded to a phished email from an executive asking them to fill out a survey.
Henry v Community Healthcare
System
Filed
The plaintiff sued the hospital after a hospital radiology technician shared her x-rays with the plaintiff employer who was also the technician's spouse.
Patients v Philadelphia
To Be Filed
A data tool built by Public Health put up the names of thousands of people who have hepatitis. They do not know how long the data has been exposed nor if anyone has peeked at it. They should!! Top
Prescott v Rady Children's
Hospital
Settlement
The California hospital settled a claim that it discriminated against the 14 year old trans boy by failing to use the right gender words in relating to him. This, it is alleged, led to his suicide.
McCann v St. Mary's
Filed
The hospital has apologized to the plaintiff for its "Wall of Shame" which she reported to the hospital several years ago. The hospital did nothing. Now it has fired one individual and made the public apology. The Wall was made by employees depicting patients with disabilities.
Empire Health Foundation v CHS
Settlement
CHS has decided to forgive up to $50 million of medical debt for people in the Spokane area between 2008 and 2017. This is due to a law suit from competitor Empire Health stating CHS did not give enough charity care. CHS also agreed to pay $2 million in Empire's legal expenses and an additional $20 million that the Empire foundation will use to create a political lobbying arm. Top
Murray v Johnson & Johnson
Trial Court
In an unbelievable verdict that will soon be overturned Murray sued after being prescribed Risperdal as a minor. He developed a known complication of gynecomastia the plaintiff say was not disclosed and the drug was marketed for unapproved uses by the company. The jury voted for a $680,000 award for the plaintiff and then a $8 Billion puni award.
Patients v Thomas
Filed
Seven patients are suing Dr. Joseph Thomas and Tri-State Pain Institute after they were infected with MERSA. The state had previously cited the practice for failing to report and unsafe infection control.
Patient v Royal Oak Beaumont
To Be Filed
One patient has been definitively diagnosed with Legionaire's Disease and more may be forthcoming.
Roth v Winchester Medical Center
WD Va
The daughter of a deceased patient sued the hospital after her father who was at risk for falling fell off a commode and hit his head leading to his death. The suit was for wrongful death, negligence including negligent staffing. A nurse had assisted him to the commode but then left him to arrange the bed. The court allowed the negligent staffing claim since the hospital had incentive to hire the least amount of staff and the plaintiff's father died due to the understaffing requiring the nurse to be overworked and doing too many things at once. Top
Moran
v Monmouth Medical Center
Filed
Patricia Moran, RN, states she complained that nurses were giving patients Benadryl without orders during the evening. She states she was then retaliated against by her supervisor including giving her less time working and a "bogus" evaluation leading to a 14 week suspension without pay.
Gros v Walker County
Hospital
Filed
The suit alleges the hospital fired the plaintiff CFO after he raised matter concerning funding.
Alpert v Kaiser Permanente
Filed
Dr. Eryn Alpert worked for Kaiser in the Puget area for five years and was allegedly fired for her critique of Kaiser's patient evaluation system. She states she refused to give patients unneeded narcotics which led to low evaluation scores for her. The low scores led to her not being offered partnership status since the low scores would lead to lower reimbursement tot the organization.
Morris v Centura Health
Filed
Dr. Barbara Morris was fired from the hospital after she helped sued the hospital so a patient with terminal cancer would be able end his life under the state's End of Life Options Act. The hospital had opted out of the Act.
Cardiologists v Tenet
ED Mich
The court said the three cardiologists who sued after being disciplined for complaining about unsafe practices at the hospital must arbitrate not sue as required in their contracts. 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.