August 15, 2025 Recent Legal News
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New York v Lucchesi
Sentenced
Dr. Michael Lucchesi, the former Chair of Emergency Medicine at SUNY Downstate Medical Center was sentenced to one to three years in prison. He had previously plead guilty to one charge of grand larceny after being accused of stealing about $1.5 million in state funds via a hospital credit card. He also agreed to repay $720,000. Yep, that leaves him the same amount richer when he gets out of the pokey.
Ohio v Saunders
Convicted
Rodel Saunders of Cincinnati was convicted of practicing medicine with only a training license. He was caught having men come to his apartment for genital ultrasounds. He was acquitted earlier of sexual imposition and voyeurism.
Florida v Wentzell
Guilty
Dr. Thomas Wentzell, an internist in Ocoee, Florida, plead guilty to second degree murder in the death of his wife.
Florida v Bardisa
Arrested
Autumn Bardisa of Flagler County was arrested and charged with pretending to be a registered nurse and treating almost 5000 patient without a license. She was hired by a local hospital as an advanced nurse technician which meant she had passed the schooling but had not passed the national exams. She allegedly stole a license from someone else at a different hospital. She was caught by the hospital when her credentials were checked again when she was offered an advanced position.
US v Och
Sentenced
Mohamad Och, a psychiatrist in Worcester, Massachusetts was sentenced to four years probation and a $30,000 fine. He was convicted after a 11 day jury trial of unlawful distribution of controlled substances without performing proper psychiatric exams or doing anything to ascertain the legitimacy of the prescriptions.
North Carolina v Moulton
Arrested
Dr. Aaron Moulton, an ER physician at Cateret Health Care, was arrested for being in possession of child porn.
Pennsylvania v Womack
Arrested
Shannon Womack was pulled over for a routine traffic stop. She gave the officers a false ID which led to her arrest and finding that she had 20 aliases and seven different SSNs. Her vehicle was searched and she was found to have multiple IDs along with meds prescribed to different people. She allegedly posed as a LPN at multiple rehab and nursing home facilities throughout the state. Top
US v Biricik, Perlin
Indicted
Cemhad Biricik, the CEO of Fast Lab Technology in New York state and Dr. Martin Perlin the CMO of the company wereindicted for fruad. They had a website that offered free Covid tests. When the consumers registered they had to enter their insurance information. Allegedly Fast Lab then used this information to bill falsely fed med for tests never performed or not needed. Perlin was the ordering physician. Top
Stanford Health v Santa Clara County
Filed
Stanford University sued the county for non-payment for the care of their patients. They contend they are owed almost $900,000 for the care of 11 patients. This is the second suit against the deadbeat county after San Jose's Good Samaritan Hospital also filed suit for the same reason. Top
Valla v Dignity Health, St. Mary Medical Center Long
Beach (California)
Decision
Nancy Vall was the CNO at the hospital owned by Dignity Health and CommonSpirit Health. In 2019 a man jumped to his death from the hospital's parking structure. This was the second suicide involving the structure. Valla urged the hospital to install safety to prevent future deaths but her idea wa dismissed. The state never advised any barriers after an investigation. She also reported many other safety issues but due to budget concerns were never fixed. She contended that the hospital then retaliated against her. She went on medical leave for a mental condition and testified that while on leave leadership replaced her. After a 5 week trial she won 27.5 million for the unlawful retaliation and failure to accommodate her disability. 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.