October1, 2024 Recent Legal News
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US v Stockin
Plea Deal
Major Michael Stockin, a military anesthesiologist at Madigan Army Medical Center has reached a plea deal that will be entered in January. He has agreed to The plea deal was not noted in teh report. He was accused of over 40 issues of sexual abuse of patients.
US v Wasson, Potts, Kaplan
Indicted
The feds have charged that Sharlene Dawson aka Sharlene Crawford of Detroit, Michigan, hired Drs. Charles Wasson, Maurice Potts and Bruce Kaplan to write fake patients prescriptions for narcotics. The fake patients were allegedly recruited by others. The narcotics would then be sold on the street.
California v Chacon, Vass
Sentenced
Dr. Carlos Chacon and his nurse Heather Voss were sentenced to prison. Chacon had plead guilty of manslaughter and aiding a person to practice medicine without a license. Vass had plead guilty to manslaughter. Chacon got 3 years and Voss 2 years. The patient had a cardiac arrest at the cosmetic surgery clinic and the pair did not call 911 for several hours. She died a month post op.
Florida v Sharp
Arrested
Dr. Elaine Sharp of Gulf Breeze, Florida was arrested for first degree murder. The OB is accused of over prescribing narcotics leading to the deaths of 12 people.
Michigan v Brazil
Guilty
Dr. Rainna Brazil of Sylvan Lake, Michigan, plead guilty to false pretenses, failure to file taxes and fraud. She is accused of collecting over $400,000 in state disability while continuing to practice medicine. Her sentencing depends on how quickly she repays the state. Top
US v Madison
Settlement
Jeffery Madison, the former CEO of Little River Health Care, agreed to pay $5,343,630 to settle allegations that he caused the submission of false claims for lab tests after giving kickbacks to physicians to order the tests.
US v Physicians Medical Center
Settlement
The institution along with lab techs, a physician and his wife office manager agreed to pay $7.2 million to settle allegations that they filed for false lab tests for people that did not have a medical need for the urine tests.
US v Acadia Healthcare
Settlement
The Tennessee based behavioral health company agreed to pay $16,663,918 to settle allegations that they billed for illegal behavioral health services. This is a whistleblower case and that share is over $3 million.
US v Siouxland Surgery (Dunes Surgical Hospital)
Settlement
The South Dakota surgical hospital agreed to pay $12.76 million to settle allegations that they billed for services performed by physicians whom they gave financial support.
US v Joyner
Sentenced
Colby Joyner, a PA in Monroe, North Carolina, was sentenced to 72 months in prison and ordered to pay $3.6 million in restitution. He was convicted of health care fraud. He signed prescriptions for unnecesarry genetic testing for over 600 fed med patients in return for $10-$15 per prescription. There is no way he could repay that much money.
US v Troyer
Settlement
Dr. Eric Troyer of Landis, North Carolina, agreed to pay $429,254 to settle allegations that he and his practice accepted money for kickbacks from labs. He will pay an additional almost $200,000 to the state. Top
St. Charles Surgical Hospital v Blue Cross Blue Shield
Jury Decision
The hospital had lpted out of the insurer network and then the insurer stopped paying them or slow paid them for 10 years. The hospital sued and won a jury decision of over $400 million witch the insurer will appeal.
Albany Med Health System v Capital District Physicians
Health Plan
Filed
The hospital filed suit accusing the insurer of shortchanging over 16,000 claims. The insurer blames Medicare Advantage for not keeping up with inflation which is causing them to pay significantly more for wages.
California v Providence St. Joseph Hospital
Filed
The California AG who wants a higher job in two years has filed suit against the Eureka, California hospital for allegedly denying a woman an abortion. The woman went to the hospital for a previable preterm rupture of membranes which should be treated by an abortion. The Catholic hospital would not do the abortion as long as the fetus have a pulse and the mother's life was at risk. The husband drove her to another hospital where she passed a large blood clot and received her abortion. The second hospital is closing this month. California has a law that requires hospitals provide care necessary to relieve or eliminate the emergency medical condition. The AG used this law since he did not think he could win an EMTALA suit and he needs the publicity. The hospital has answered by stating it is changing its training, education and escalation process in emergency medical situations to make sure something like this does not happen again.
The same AG then sued another hospital AHMC Healthcare of Alhambra, California. He alleges that the purchaser of several hospitals violated its agreement when it closed a stroke center. In fact the state had approved the closure for repairs and the hospital planned to reopen the unit after the repairs are completed. Never underestimate the vindictiveness of someone who wants higher office.
Oregon Heart Center v Salem Health
Filed
The independent cardiology practice filed suit for defamation against the hospital which it says is attempting to force then into joining the hospital system of force them out of business.
Biden v Texas
US Supreme Court
Biden continues his losing streak in the Supreme Court. This time he asked the court to to toss the Texas law regarding abortions. The court said that hospitals cannot federally be required to provide pregnancy terminations whey they violate the Texas law. There were no publicly noted dissents. Top
HHS v Providence Medical Institute
Settlement
The HHS gave the Southern California institution a $240,000 fine for lax security measures leading to a ransomware attack.
Doe v Lehigh Valley Health Network
Class Action Settlement
The hospital was sued after Jane Doe found out that nude pictures of her on the radiation table were on the web. Lehigh refused to pay a ransom for the pics and other patient information of over $5 million. So they are now paying $65 Million in the settlement. Stupidity reigns at the hospital legal and administrative departments. Top
Plaintiffs v Universal Health Services
Verdict
The King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, behavioral health organization lost several suits recently. The first one is for $535 million for the rape of a 13 year old patient by another patient. The second at a different hospital was for $360 million for inappropriate sexual contact by a former medical director at Cumberland hospital. Top
Story v Ascension St. Vincent
Jury Decision
Dr. Timothy Story won $2.05 million after suing the hospital for breach of contract and tortious interference. Story said that the hospital fired him in 2020 after they learned from outside sources that he was under investigation for prescribing practices. He was supposed to tell the hospital under his contract. However, the feds were investigation a patient, not the physician and he produced records under the government subpoena which also required him to maintain confidentiality about the matter. 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.