November 1, 2023 Recent Legal News
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US v Compton, Lambert
Guilty
Crystal Compton MD and Kayla Lambert RN of Pike county, Kentucky were found guilty of illegally distributing narcotics.
Colorado v Matthews
Indicted
Dr. Stephen Matthews of Denver was arraigned and pled not guilty of over 50 counts of drugging and assaulting women he met on line. The cardiologist was released on bail and then re-arrested when more women reported being assaulted. He is now on a $5 million bond.
Pennsylvania v Iakomi
Indicted
Dr. Vladimir Iakomi of Lancaster County was charged with assault for pulling up a patient's dress and attempting to pull down her underwear.
US v Norris
Indicted
Dr. Merideth Norris of Kennebunk, Maine, was indicted on federal charges of illegally prescribing drugs. She is asking for those charges to be dismissed. Dr. Norris runs a addiction treatment center and believes the federal authorities have exceeded their authority by not giving her notice that she was doing something illegal. The defense says that the DEA is substituting their medical judgment against that of experienced practitioners. This could be an interesting case.
Michigan v Struhar
Indicted
Jessica Struhar CNA of Macomb County was arraigned for Vulnerable Adult Abuse. She is alleged to ignore standing orders in a SNF which led to a choking incident and a death of a resident. She is also alleged to have made several false entries in the medical record.
Michigan v Gallazo
Indicted
Leticia Gallarzo of Allegan County was indicted for posing as a RN. She is alleged to have used the name and licensing number of a nurse to gain a job at a nursing home. She was arrested after her fingerprints matched to a criminal record.
Alabama v Wahlgren
Convicted
Anesthesiologist Dr. Brett Wahlgren was convicted of first degree domestic violence. He threw the top of a beer barrel at the victim and then punched her repeatedly. He then dragged her to the kitchen and stabbed her. He actually tried to take his own life and his wife was injured in the process and after calling 911.
California v Thompson IV
Indicted
Dr. William Thompson IV of Orange County, was indicted for sexually assaulting 9 male patients under the guise of a medical exam. He is an ID physician who specialized in treating the Gay community.
US v Wan
Guilty
Dr. James Wan of Georgia plead guilty of paying a hitman to murder his girlfriend. He found this person on the dark web and used bitcoin to pay for the deed. The feds learned about the deal and warned the victim. No harm was done to her.
Ohio v Massoud
Indicted
Dr. Omar Massoud, a gastroenterologist in Chagrin Falls, was indicted and plead not guilty by reason of insanity to 18 gross seual imposition and six unlawful restraint charges. He was accused of groping patients during exams.
Alabama v Mullican
Felony Warrant
Felony warrants have been issued against Dr. Sarah Mullican of Mountain brook. She was involved in a single care accident that killed her 10 year old daughter in July. She was fleeing the police at the time.
Florida v Hiltz
Arrested
Kristen Hiltz, the wife of the CEO of Naples NCH Healthcare, was arrested for two counts of battery. She kicked two RNs in the chest but the incident was handled by the hospital security team. by the time the police arrived she was intubated and in ICU. she was released six days later. Her husband has issued a statement supporting the hospital.
Minnesota v Bowman
Indicted
Dr. Conner bowman was charged with second degree murder of his wife. He is a poison specialist and was researching colchicine. His wife who did not have gout nor was ever prescribed the drug was killed by a toxic dose of the drug. the Bowman's were having marital problems. Top
US v Hyatt
Arrested
Dr. Brian Hyatt, the former head of the Arkansas Medical board , was arrested for Medicare fraud. He has about 40 law suits pending for his allegedly keeping people in the mental hospital against their wishes and for no reason except to collect money.
US v Hockman
Indicted
Dr. Michael Hockman of Austin, Texas, was indicted for fraud and money laundering. He is accused of using his ophthalmology practice to conduct fraudulent, repetitive and excessive medical procedures on patients.
US v Cardiac Imaging,
Kancherlapalli
Settlement
The Illinois based company agreed to pay $75 million and its owner Sam Kancherlapalli agreed to pay $10.48 million to settle allegations that they paid kickbacks to cardiologists for referrals. They were accused of paying referring cardiologists $500 per hour to supervise patient scans. This is a whistleblower case from one former employee. She will get a bunch of money.
US v Parks
Sentenced
Jenks Oklahoma resident Christopher Parks was sentenced to 18 months in prison for offering and paying kickbacks. He paid physicians to use his compounding pharmacy.
US v Connex Family Services,
Riddle
Settlement
The Warrentown, Virginia, behavioral health facility agreed along with its owner Bianca Riddle to pay $918,000 to settle allegations that they billed fed med for services never rendered. If the company is sold within two years they will pay an additional amounts, up to just over $2 million.
US v Bio Tek, gaddle
Settlement
The New Castle, Delaware company and its CEO Chaitanya Gaddie have agreed to pay $20 million to settle allegations that they paid kickbacks to patients and physicians. The pharmacy routinely waived co-pays to induce patients to purchase its drugs and services. They also provided free administrative support to physicians to refer patients to Bio Tek. This is a whistleblower case and two for employees will get and share $4 million.
US v South Carolina Nephrology and
Hypertension Center, Moustafa
Settlement
The medical practice and its owner Dr. Moustafa Moustafa of Orangeburg, South Carolina, have agreed to pay $585,540 to settle allegations that they received kickbacks from labs for his referrals.
US v Cigna Group
Settlement
The insurance giant agreed to pay $172 million to settle allegations that they gave inaccurate Medicare Advantage codes to the feds to get higher reimbursement.
US v Patel
Court Order
Minal Patel of Atlanta, Georgia, had been convicted of defrauding Medicare of over $187 million. He was sentenced to 27 years in prison. Now he has been ordered to forfeit more that $187 million worth of proceed from his scam. This includes $30 million in cash, a Ferrari Spider and real estate.
US v Hernandez
Convicted
Elizabeh Hernandez, NP of Homestead, florida, was convicted by a jury of fraud. She was accused of submitting false claims for gentic testing and GME for patients that they did not need.
US v Simpson, Simpson-Camp, Bryant
Indicted
Two pharmacists Shalondria Simpson and Shayla Bryant along with Dr. Lashondria Simpson-Camp were indicted for fraud, kickbacks and money laundering. The Texas trio paid each other for prescription that were medically unnecessary.
US v Jenna Medical Group, Weiss,
Hoffman, Schultz
Settlement
The Florida medical group along with Benjamin Weiss, Moishe Hoffman and Dr. Jason Schultz have agreed to pay $1,724,986.08 to settle allegations that they submitted claims for radiofrequency ablations performed by an unqualified technician. They also reused single use catheters.
US v Exagen
Settlement
The California diagnostic test maker agreed to pay $653,143 to settle allegations that they paid physicians to use their lab tests.
US v Oxygen Plus, Inc.
Settlement
The Floyd County, Kentucky, DME provider agreed to pay $200,000 to settle allegation that they billed fed med for respiratory devices for patients that they did not need or use.
US v Adams
Court Order
Dr. Charles Adams and his medical practice of Georgia, was ordered by a judge to pay $27 million for submitting false claims to fed med for chelation therapy. The jury ruled that Medicare had paid Adams more than $1.1 million for these unnecessary tests. The judge then trebled the amount and since there were over 4000 cases came up with an amount of $27 million that Dr. Adams owes.
US v Glotser
Guilty
Dr. Alex Glotser of Metairie, Louisiana, has plead guilty to Medicare fraud. He was the doctor for telemedicine DME and Cancer Genetic Screening testing. He was paid $30 per test or $270,570. These were not needed DME or tests. He will be required to pay a fine of $250,000 along with restitution of $2,420,1000. He may also get up to 10 years in prison. Top
Valley Physicians Group v Santa
Clara County
Settlement
The physician's union filed an unfair labor charge against the county after the county sent threatening communications. They threatened patient abandonment charges if the physicians went out on strike. Those county officials should have known better especially Dr. Smith, who is also an attorney.
Enrollees v Blue Cross Blue Shield
11th Circuit
After years of a law suit that said Blue Cross blue Shield conspired to drive up healthcare costs, the insurer is settling by paying $2.67 Billion. The people opposed sued to block the settlement and the $667 million in legal costs. The Circuit ruled that the settlement was legitimate.
Doe v Rogers
United States Supreme Court
The high court refused to take this case which is a constitutional challenge to HCQIA and its lack of due process throughout the process. The physician alleged he was the victim of a false report to the NPDB without his knowledge for voluntarily surrender of clinical privileges while under or to avoid investigation. The NY Department of Health said he did not deviate from the standard of care, the HHS refused to remove the notice., The district court and the DC Circuit affirmed the the dismissal of the claims.
Daleiden, Center for Medical
Progress v Planned Parenthood
US Supreme Court
The anti-abortion activist group was sued after they secretly recorded abortion providers in a scheme to try to show the illicit sale of aborted fetal tissue for profits. They lost the court case and were ordered to pay Planned Parenthood $2 million in damages. The courts have ruled for Planned Parenthood and the Supreme Court refused to take the case. Top
Patients v Exactech
Filed
Thousands of suits have been filed against the orthopedic company for faulty hip and knee replacements. They have been accused of concealing evidence of faulty products for years.
Patients v Todd
Filed
Over 60 women have filed suit against rheumatologist Derrick Todd at Brigham and Women's hospital. He has been accused of doing unnecessary breast, rectal and vaginal exams. This is a class action suit. He has resigned instead of being terminated from the staff.
Costello v Providence Regional
Medical Center Everett
Filed
The husband filed suit after his wife died while waiting for care in an ER waiting room. The allegation states that the hospital failed to room and treat her in a timely manner. She died due to chronic pancreatitis with pseudocyst, resulting in probable cardiac dysrhythemia. She had been triaged as she had a NEWS score of 3. She still was not seen in an examining room. A chem panel done after she died showed hypokalemia.
Ortiz v Stamford Hospital, Meltsakos
Decision
The patient sued the hospital and Dr. Christopher Meltsakos for med mal for mal treatment of a broken leg causing permanent disability. He was awarded $2.5 million against both with the hospital at 40% fault. They had previously settled and will not pay their portion of the verdict.
Plaintiffs v J&J
New Jersey Appellate Court
The court tossed a $223.8 million verdict against J&J by four plaintiffs for developing cancer from asbestos in the tac powder. They said the experts testimony for the plaintiff should not have been allowed. A new trial was ordered.
Koel v Citizens Medical
Center
DC Kansas
Koel sustained an eye injury and went tot the ED of the small rural hospital. He had a CT scan which showed a possible right globe rupture. He was discharged to be seen by an ophthalmologist the next day. He had surgery that repaired te ruptured globe but lost vision in that ey. He sued for med mal and EMTALA. The court ruled he had gotten the screening exam and the hospital won summary judgment on the EMTALA claim.
Butler v University of Illinois
Chicago
Verdict
A 20 year old male suffered brain damage during birth. The mother was admitted to UIC Hospital and not seen by a physician for 6-7 hours. She was then seen by two resident physicians. She was given pitocin which gave the fetus fetal tachycardia. He ws delivered by C Section the next morning. The mother was considered a high risk patient due to gestational diabetes and asthma. He received $55.5 million.
Patients v Zhu, Community Medical
Center
Filed
Several women have filed suit against Dr. Andy Zhu and the hospital claiming he molested the patients and the clinic knew but did nothing. He is alleged to have breast cupped them during visits, even for prescription refills.
Doe v Integris Baptist Medical
Cednter
Filed
Doe claims that after hernia surgery she was sexually assaulted while coming ou of anesthesia. She says she felt pain "like I had just had sex" but denies having sex for the past eight years. She also states she then tested positive for a STD.
Caranci v Bayer AG
Verdict
A jury ordered Bayer to pay a retired restaurant owner $25 million in compensatory damages and $150 million in punis for giving him cancer. He got non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma after using Roundup in his garden for years. This will be appealed and hopefully won. Top
Physicians v Los Angeles County
Filed
Two orthopedic surgeons and the former head of the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center have filed suit against the overseer of the hospital for sexual harassment, retaliation and discriminatory behavior by the head of Orthopedics Dr. Louis Kwong. It is alleged that the three got lower pay than their three male counterparts, that Kwong bullied them and in one case had the person demoted.
Ain v University of Kentucky
Filed
Dr. Kenneth Ain say he has Asperger's Syndrome and because of it he was harassed and retaliated against. He claims the university did not investigate his complaints, that he was banned from the property and felt like the university was forcing him to resign. He won a temporary injunction to allow him to start seeing patients again.
Danielson v Odessa Brown
Children's Clinic
Filed
Dr. Benjamin Danielson was the medical director of the Clinic and resigned several years ago due to the Clinic's perceived jeopardy of safety for the staff and patients. He is suing them for racial discrimination and retaliation.
Valla, Verbitski v St. Mary's
Hospital Long Beach
Filed
Two hospital administrators are suing the hospital for retaliation. The contend that they lost their jobs after raising patient safety concerns.
Mansour v Physician Partners LLC,
and MAO Freedom Health
DC MD Fla
The court ruled that Dr. George Mansour had sufficiently alleged that the IPA and the MAO sought to retaliate against him after he accused them of conspiring to artificially inflate patient risk adjustment scores. The court denied the request to dismiss the suit.
Mogk v Henry Ford Health
Filed
Dr. Lylas Mogk, an ophthalmologist at the institution has filed suit for age discrimination. She claims that the requirement for a cognitive assessment at age 70 and older is discriminatory. 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.