July 1, 2023 Recent Legal News
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US v Weiss
Sentenced
Dr. Howard Weiss a psychiatrist of Greenwood Village, Colorado, was sentenced to six months in prison and pay almost $1 million for illegally prescribing narcotics. This involved at least five patients who died from poly-drug overdoses. Weiss admitted to the charges and got a plea deal.
Wisconsin v Poterucha
Plea Deal
Dr. Joseph Poterucha, a pediatrician in La Crosse, Wisconsin, plead guilty to inappropriately touching several children and will be sentenced later.
Alaska v McGrath
Sentenced
Dr. Richard McGrath of Sitka, Alaska, has been sentenced to 17 years in prison with 15 years suspended due to a plea deal where he plead guilty to sexual assault. A lot of the decreased sentencing was due to a decline in his mental capacity.
Maine v Cho
Filed
Dr. Jake Cho, a nephrologist in Peachtree, Georgia, was charged with groping a female passenger while on a plane. It is alleged that during the flight he feigned sleep and then groped his seatmate's butt and thigh.
Colorado v Kim
Guilty
Dr. Geoffrey Kim, a plastic surgeon in Greenwood Village, was found not guilty of negligent homicide but was convicted of negligent manslaughter. This is punishable by 1-5 years in prison. His patient, a 19 year old female was being operated on for breast augmentation when she went into cardiac arrest. She died 14 months later. He refused to let 911 be called for five hours. The anesthesiologist was also charged but later those charges were dropped.
California v Singh
Arrested
Dr. Rachandeep Singh of Carmichael, California, was arrested on charges of sexual battery. He is accused of touching an employee sexually. He was earlier removed as medical director of the River Pointe Post-Acute Care Facility.
US v Siao
Indicted
Dr. Donald Siao of San Jose, California, was indicted on illegally distributing narcotics. He allegedly wrote prescriptions without any exam.
Utah v Wyatt
Sentenced
Dr. Paul Wyatt was sentenced to five years in prison for third degree unlawful professional conduct and third degree aggravated assault committed with force. He had his license suspended since 2016 but continued to perform surgery ob at least seven patients. All seven were injured after having illegal cataract surgeries.
Ohio v Martin
Sentenced
Savannah Martin LPN was sentenced to 8-16 months in county jail. She was convicted of giving a patient who she had treated for years a medication without a prescription due to the patient's suffering.
Iowa v Lindaman
Arrested
Dr. Lynn Linderman of Ankeny was arrested on two counts of sexual abuse against a minor. Sherri Moler claims to have been assaulted by him in the 1970s and thought he had been convicted but actually had his case dismissed. He is up on the same charges. Double Jeopardy?
California v Von Lintig, Pascua
Arraigned
Dr. Friederike Von Lintig and Danalee Pascua, RN, were arraigned on involuntary manslaughter charges. Five days after Elisa Serna was jailed she died from alleged mistreatment after she collapsed in her cell.
Pennsylvania v O'Brien
Arrested
Chiropractor Philip O'Brien of Leigh Valley was arrested for alleged producing child porn.
Ohio v Frey
Guilty
Brian Frey, LPN, of Bellefontaine, plead guilty to 17 counts of sexual imposition. He said he did unnecessary genital exams on men and boys and were outside of the scope of his license.
Tennessee v Brock
Indicted
Lydia Brock pretended to be a nurse at Erlanger Hospital and told two ED patients that were being discharged. She was found out immediately and placed on an involuntary hold. She is now charged with aggravated assault.
US v Getachew
Convicted
A federal jury in Columbus, Ohio, convicted Dr. Eskender Getachew of Galena, of unlawfully prescribing opioids. The more the patient paid the more pills they got.
Virginia v Rashid
Guilty
Dr. Haroon Rasahid of Virginia was accused and plead no contest to the charges of assault and battery. His employee stated that he assaulted her for asking how to get an elderly patient on a table for an EKG.
California v Robiceaux, Riley
Case Over?
Dr. Grant Robicheaux and his girl friend Cerissa Riley were indicted five years ago for allegedly drugging women and having sex with them. All the major rape charges except a felony charge of drugging the drink of one woman, felony charges of illegal possession of weapons, and misdemeanor charges of possessing cocaine have been dropped.
California v Sannoufi
Arrested
Dr. Sam Sannoufi of Newport Beach, was arrested again. He was arrested one month ago on sexual assault charges and this time for the same charges but on different women.
Florida v Tinaro
Arrested
Jaqlyn Tinaro of Sarasota County, was posing as a physician. She was working at Virtue of Health clinic. She was doing "live blood analysis" and writing prescriptions under the name of the medical director of the clinic.
Arizona v Guinn
Sentenced
Pamela Guinn was sentenced to five years in prison for impersonating a nurse. She was practicing in Arizona under the name of Pamela Robinson.
Kansas v Rodela
Arrested
Miguel Rodela was arrested on charges of rape. He is alleged to have molested several elderly female patients in Ascension Via Christi Hospital. A civil suit has also been filed against the facility. Top
US v Saini, Carolina Heart and Leg
Center
Settlement
Dr. Hari Siani, a cardiologist in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and his practice agreed to pay over $5 million to settle allegations that he billed for unnecessary arthrectomy procedures. After sic years of discovery and litigation he agreed to settle. This is a qui tam suit.
US v St. Francis Physician Services
Settlement
The Greenville, South Carolina, system agreed to pay $36.5 million to settle allegations that they paid orthopods for referrals. This was a qui tam suit and the Realtor will get over $10 million.
US v Joyner
Guilty
A jury convicted Colby Joyner PA of Charlotte, North Carolina, of healthcare fraud for his role in a genetic testing scam. He signed prescriptions for medically unnecessary genetic testing for patients he had never met.
US v Gaviola, Ozoh, Aqino
Indicted
The Houston trio of Christian Aqino, Rene Gaviola and Ifanya Ozoh were indicted for their part in a dental scam. They are alleged to have paid kickbacks to get patients and billed for unnecessary dental work.
US v Bailey
Sentenced
Alfonzo Bailey founded a Family service agency in Cleveland and then proceeded to bilk via fraud Medicaid. He got his staff to do false progress counseling notes for services never don. He has been sentenced to 3 years in prison and to pay restitution of over $3 million.
US v Balotin, Smart Pharmacy
Settlement
Gregory Balotin and his pharmacy Smart Pharmacy in Jacksonville, Florida, have agreed to pay $7.4 million to settle allegations that they added a medication to a compounded pain cream to get higher reimbursement and waiving co-pays.
US v Calloway
Sentenced
Edward Calloway, the ex-financial director of Ouachita Parish Hospital Service District in Monroe, Louisiana, has been sentenced to 24 months in prison. He plead guilty of wire fraud for transferring money from the hospital to his personal accounts.
US v Greager II
Sentenced
Dr. John Greager of Hinsdale, Illinois, was sentenced to six months in prison and fined $1 million. He had pleaded guilty to health care fraud for billing for mole removing procedures on separate dates but actually performing them on one occasion. He stored the moles on site and submitted them to pathology on separate dates to cover up his fraud.
US v Jackson
Sentenced
Dr. Anita Jackson, an ENT in North Carolina, was sentenced to 300 months in prison. She did balloon sinuplasties in her office and in a spa. She billed for these but reused the balloons dilators. Restitution will be determined later.
US v Alamo City Pain Clinic, Psych
Demensions
Settlement
These two San Antonio area medical practices agreed to pay $367,913 and $155,254 respectively for billing for P-Stim when they just did acupuncture.
US v Banks
Sentenced
Gregory Banks of Connecticut was sentenced to 30 months in prison and repayment of over $1 million for billing Medicaid for counseling services that were not provided.
US v Injured Workers Pharmacy
The Andover, Massachusetts pharmacy agreed to pay $10 million to resolve allegations that they violated the CSA by improperly filling prescriptions and filing false claims.
US v Motley
Convicted
Tamara Motley aka Tamara Ogembe of Redondo Beach, California, was found guilty of using her DME company to pay runners and cappers, stealing identities and bill Medicare for unneeded DME.
US v Adams
Convicted
Dr. Charles Adams and his group Charles Adams MD INC of Rome, Georgia, was found guilty by a jury of violating the ?False Claims Act for billing for chelation therapy for made up diagnosis. The jury also awarded over $1.1 million which will be trebled.
Ramming, Lalor v HCA
Filed
Drs. Scott Ramming and Allen Lalor filed suit against TeamHealth and HCA for fraud by overcharging. The feds declined to intervene. They claim that after HCA took over Mission Hospital the managers began a deliberate practice of pushing for reordering of tests, overusing trauma codes and anything else they could do to inflate billing. They accuse TeamHealth of pushing patient visits to increase revenue.
California v Santa Barbara San
Luis Obispo Regional Health Authority, Cottage Health, etal
Settlement
The groups agreed to pay $68 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act for "Enhanced Services". This was a qui tam case and the former medical director of one of the agencies will get $12.6 million.
US v Schleider
Guilty
Alexander Schleideer of Lakewood, New Jersey, plead guilty of health care fraud. He owned a DME company and provided DME without regard to medical necessity. He also submitted phony applications and received funds from the Covid funds.
US v Lags Spine & Sportscare
Medical Centers, Lagattuta
Settlement
The Oregon organization and its medial director Dr. Francis Lagattuta agreed to pay $11,388,887 to settle allegations that they submitted false claims for medically unnecessary services. They did skin biopsies without patient consent and if the patient refused their opioids were cut. This is a whistle blower case and the former COO will get $2.1 million.
US v Diversicare Healthcare
Services
Settlement
The Alabama organization agreed to pay $1,377,696 to settle allegations that they submitted false claims for OT they did not provide. This is a qui tam suit and the whistleblower will get $200,000.
Virginia v HCA
Settlement
HCA agreed to pay Virginia $4,611,375 to settle allegation that it billed Virginia Medicaid falsely for three separate behavioral health services available to children. Top
EEOC v Beaumont Hospital
Filed
The fed agency has sued the Michigan hospital for failing to accommodate a nurse with a disability that required her to work less hours. They made her apply and compete with others for openings instead of transferring to the position.
US v Biden
USDC Louisiana
A federal judge ruled tha the administration violated the First Amendment by censoring unfavorable opinions on social media. This involved the administration pressuring social media to take down what they considerer misinformation regarding the corona virus.
Planned Parenthood v Medical
Licensing Board
Indiana Supreme Court
The Indiana legislature passed a law restricting abortion and Planned Parenthood sued. In the lower court verdict the court ruled for Planned Parenthood. The Supreme Court did not agree. They said the law protects a woman if their life is in danger or if there is a serious health risk. They left open other aspects for later appeal. Top
US v Yakima Valley Memorial
Hospital
Settlement
The hospital agreed to pay $240,000 to settle allegations that 23 security guards at the hospital illegally accessed medical records. The hospital will also have to get their s...t together.
California v Kaiser Permanente
Settlement
The HMO agreed to pay $450,000 to settle allegations that they violated patient confidentiality by sending out mailings to potentially outdated enrollees. They had not updated their EMR adequately.
Patients v Kronos ( UKG )
Settlement
The human resource company agreed to settle a class action suit by paying $6 million. They had a ransomware attack by not having adequate security. They also must spend $1.5 million to improve its cybersecurity.
UCLA v Certain Underwriters at
Lloyd's
Filed
The university Regents are suing the insurer for not paying for a 2014 cyberattack. The university has paid $2 million to settle a class action suit and Lloyd's has denied payment for any losses incurred in that cyberattack. Maybe if they had done good cybersecurity they would not have been hacked and all this would have been avoided.
Patients v johns Hopkins
Filed
A class action suit was filed against Johns Hopkins after a ransomware attack. It alleges there was not enough cybersecurity to protect the information.
Patients v Mountain View Hospital,
Idaho Falls Community Hospital
To Be Filed
The hospitals had their systems hacked and alot of patient information was obtained. Another hospital security breach.
Patients v QuickBlox
To Be Filed
Millions of patients personal health information was unprotected due to poor security. The software was then updated to protect the information.
Patients v Sharp Healthcare
Dismissed
A federal court dismissed the class action suit against Sharp for allegedly disclosing health information to Meta Platforms without patient consent. The court found the evidence conclusionary and devoid of factual support. Top
Chatterjee-Paer v Jefferson
Abington Hospital
Filed
Dr. Sudeshna Chaterjee-Paer was hired as a gynecologic oncologist and was paid a salary of $315,000. She states that two years later a male started at a salary $80,000 over hers. Later, she states, another male was hired at $400K with much less qualifications. She has left this hospital and works for another system and has filed suit for sexual harassment and under paying females versus males.
NYU Langone Health v Northwell
Health
Filed
NYU Langone Health is suing Northwell Health because they are using in their advertising the same or similar advertisements with similar purple ink and fonts.
Monarch Waste Technologies v
Sanford Health
Filed
The trash company is suing the health company after a torso in a plastic container was found among the medical waste that Monarch had been contracted to get rid of. Sanford has now counter-sued for breach of contract. A saga is unfolding.
Brown v Browell, Kenyon, Salem
Hospital
Guilty
Brown, a 43 year old male, awoke with shortness of breath and upper abdominal pain. He was taken to Salem Hospital in Massachusetts. The ER physician Dr. Browell ordered tests and ruled out a heart attack and pulmonary embolism. Brown had an elevated wbc so was admitted for a possible infection. Dr. Kenyon, a hospitalist received the patient. He got a chest x-ray which was normal except for a mild hazy interstitial opacity that might represent an early pneumonia. By the next day his symptoms became much worse and the on-duty hospitalist ordered a CT Scan which showed a very large root aneurysm with dissection through most of the aorta. He was flown to Boston for emergency surgery but he died en route from a ruptured aneurysm. All were sued for not ordering an earlier CT Scan and the jury awarded $20 million to be paid out over time. With interest this comes to $28 million. Physicians should just stop ordering chest x-rays that miss many thing and go straight to CT Scans of the chest.
Tomany v Penn State university
Filed
The 19 year old died in his first week after going to the emergency room for right buttock pain. He had a history of blood clots and protein C deficiency. He was seen by a PA who misdiagnosed him with right leg pain after an ultrasound of the leg was negative. This was signed off by the ED physician. Four days later he had severe pain in his right leg and called 911. He seized and coded before being pronounced dead. The autopsy found a saddle embolus from the right common iliac vein. Write the check.
J&J v Moline, Kradin, Emory,
Maddox
Filed
J&J sued the four physicians for allegedly publishing false research regarding their baby powder contained asbestos and caused ovarian cancer. Top
Snodgrass
v Iowa Board of Medicine
Filed
Dr. Brett Snodgrass of Missouri is suing the Iowa Board for denying him a license due to his moral character. He had been also denied a license in Illinois for the same reason. The actual moral flaws were not detailed in the article.
Gowesky v Maine Board of Medicine
Filed
Dr. Brena Gowesky was employed by the medical board and terminated from her position. She alleges that it was due to a prior whistleblower complaint she made against a prior hospital employer for a poor layout of psychiatric exam rooms that led to one avoidable suicide after which she was terminated from the hospital. The hospital had requested that the board recuse Gowesky form involvement in reviews of any of their practitioners owing to bias.
Hodges v Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center
CA App Ct
Deanna Hodges was an administrative person at the hospital with no patient responsibilities. She refused to get a flu shot and the hospital had a strict rule requiring a flu shot or a valid medical or religious reason why a person did not get the shot. Hodges gave no medially acceptable reason and her request for an exemption was denied. She was terminated and she sued and lost in the lower court. On appeal she fared no better. The appellate court said that there was no evidence of a prohibited motive by the hospital and that she failed to show a prima facie case.
Hetzel v HCA, Mission Hospital
Filed
Dr. David Hetzel, a gynecologic oncologist, sued the entities for filing a premature report to the NPDB. His suit alleges that he was employed by Mission and resigned in February 2019. He states he stayed on until a new physician could replace him in July 2020. During this interim the hospital warned him about missing conferences even though he did attend and then put him on suspension due to a case that had a high blood loss. He was investigated and reported to the data bank. Then he was exonerated of all charges and had his privileges restored but opted to not return to the hospital.
Lankford v Lutheran Medical Group
Filed
In an interesting case, Dr. David Lankford, a pediatric intensivist, has filed suit again his old hospital for keeping it from enforcing a noncompete clause. This iis under a new state law that noncompetes for physicians are not enforceable if the physician resigns for cause. Lankford says there was cause and enumerates several instances of potential breach of contract by the hospital. Lutheran had threatened the new hospital with suit if Lankford continued to work there. 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.