December, 2015

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Employee Claims Wrongful Termination After Blowing the Whistle on New York Health Care Center

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law On Monday, December 21, 2015, Debra Martin filed suit against former employer, Middletown Community Health Center Inc. (MCHC), in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, claiming she was wrongfully terminated after exposing alleged illegal activities of the health center to her superiors.

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20 Years for Ohio Cardiologist Sentenced in $29 Million Overbilling Scheme

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law Assistant US Attorney Carole S. Rendon, said of a Westlake, Ohio cardiologist sentenced to 20 years in prison on Friday, December 18, 2015, "This defendant used his medical license as a license to steal." Dr. Harold Persaud was convicted earlier this year of one count of health care fraud, 13 counts of making false statements and one count of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from c

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Eleventh Circuit (Once Again) Upholds Florida's "Gun Gag" Law

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law For the third time now, the Eleventh Circuit ruled on Monday, December 14, 2015, that a Florida law restricting physicians' questions about patients' gun ownership is constitutional. The ruling eliminated an injunction against enforcement and again reversed a district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of a group of physicians challenging what has become known as the "gun gag" law.

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Court Finds Qui Tam Relators Failed to Satisfy Evidentiary Requirements for Alleged Kickback Scheme of Pharmaceutical Company in Texas Case

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law On December 10, 2015, US District Court for the Southern District of Texas granted defendant's partial motion for summary judgment in a qui tam case alleging violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS). The case was originally filed on June 10, 2003, by relators John King and Tammy Drummond, naming several pharmaceutical companies as defendants including Solvay Pharmaceuticals Inc.

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HIPAA Compliance: Can Your Organization Avoid Costly Government Penalties and Fines?

Colington Consulting was established in 2013 and helps organizations achieve HIPAA compliance and ensures clients stay current with the latest enforcement trends. We provide a full range of HIPAA compliance services and consulting. What separates us from our competitors is our knowledge of HIPAA compliance regulations and their application to each of our client’s particular scenarios and requirements.

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Chicago Husband and Wife Sentenced to Prison Terms for Misappropriation of $3 Million in Grant Funds

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law A husband and wife from Chicago, Illinois, were sentenced to prison terms by US District Judge Richard Mills on Monday, December 14, 2015, for their roles in the misappropriation of $3 million in grant funds. Leon Dingle Jr. and his wife, Karen Dingle, were convicted at a one-week long jury trial in December 2014 of conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering.

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24-Year-Old May Spend Nearly a Decade Behind Bars as the Alleged Mastermind in a $21 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law On Thursday, December 10, 2015, 24-year-old, Daniel Suarez, was sentenced to nine years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $21 million in restitution by US District Judge Donald Middlebrooks, for his alleged leading role in a Medicare fraud scheme in Miami, Florida.

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Rare Occurrence: Dermatologist Acquitted of More Than 40 Counts of Health Care Fraud Following a 16-Day Trial: Part 2 of a 3-Part Series Part Two: Prosecutorial Overcharging

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law A Virginia dermatologist, revered by several publications as one of the top doctors in the nation for several years running, was recently acquitted of more than 40 counts of health care fraud following an unusually lengthy 16-day trial. Dr. Amir Bajoghli was originally indicted in August 2014 on 60 counts; 53 counts of health care fraud, six counts of aggravated identity theft and one count of obstruct

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Speaking of Religious Discrimination: Second Appeal to Supreme Court on Former Nursing Home Employee's Termination for Refusal to Pray with Residents

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law Former nursing home employee, Kelsey Nobach, a Jehovah's Witness, filed a discrimination suit against former employer, Woodland Village Nursing Center Inc. (Woodland), alleging her termination from the facility was the direct result of her religious beliefs.

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Baker Acts Are on the Rise Among Students at the University of Central Florida

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas; candy canes and toys, holly and trees, bells and carols, and. Baker Acts? You read that right. According to University of Central Florida (UCF) police Cpl. Peter Osterrieder, a rise in Baker Acts is to be expected among college students this time of year.

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U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division Has Yet to Weigh In on Anthem/Cigna Mega-Merger Given the Go-Ahead by Shareholders

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law On Thursday, December 3, 2015, shareholders of Anthem Inc. (Anthem) and Cigna Corp. (Cigna) approved a previously announced $54 billion mega-merger in an overwhelming 99 percent favorable vote. The pending acquisition of Cigna by Anthem would cover approximately 53 million medical members resulting in the formation of the nation's largest health insurance company.

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The Big Payoff of Application Analytics

Outdated or absent analytics won’t cut it in today’s data-driven applications – not for your end users, your development team, or your business. That’s what drove the five companies in this e-book to change their approach to analytics. Download this e-book to learn about the unique problems each company faced and how they achieved huge returns beyond expectation by embedding analytics into applications.

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Rare Occurrence: Dermatologist Acquitted of More Than 40 Counts of Health Care Fraud Following a 16-Day Trial: Part 1 of a 3-Part Series Part One: Reviewing the Charges

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law Dr. Amir Bajoghli, of McLean, Virginia, was a dermatologist and owner of the Skin & Laser Surgery Center. Dr. Bajoghli was recognized by former Washingtonian Magazine, Northern Virginia Magazine, US News & World Report and Castle Connolly as "Top Doctor.

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Pharmaceutical Company Says Former Employee is Not "Original Source" of False Claims Act Allegations and Cannot Bring Whistleblower Suit

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law Medco Health Solutions Inc. (Medco) asked a Delaware federal judge to dismiss a False Claims Act (FCA) lawsuit brought by former employee and vice president of the company's pharmaceutical contracting group. Paul Denis brought the qui tam suit against Medco alleging the company defrauded state and federal insurance companies by hiding discounts it was receiving on drugs.

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Former New York Assembly Speaker Convicted on Corruption Charges in Scheme for Referral Fees

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law Former New York Assembly Speaker, Sheldon Silver, was convicted by a jury on Monday, November 30, 2015, on federal corruption charges. Silver had spent nearly 40 years as an elected New York Assemblyman. Prosecutors say Silver was using public money to fund an asbestos disease researcher in exchange for patient referrals to Silver's colleagues and personal injury law firm, Weitz & Luxenberg PC.

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Florida Court of Appeal Says Federal Law Preempts Florida's Amendment 7; The Peer Review Privilege May Still Be Alive

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law Southern Baptist Hospital of Florida Inc. (Baptist) filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the First District Court of Appeal in Florida following a Florida circuit court ruling on the compelled disclosure of certain documents. The plaintiffs in a medical malpractice case were attempting to obtain peer review documents from the hospital on their claims.

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Everything You Wanted to Know About FACIS, but Didn’t Know to Ask

Speaker: Amy Anderson

FACIS® helps organizations mitigate patient and organizational risk. Maintaining compliance and safeguarding against fraud and abuse in today’s changing healthcare landscape can be challenging. Most healthcare organizations screen and monitor providers against the OIG but that’s only ONE of FACIS®’ primary sources. FACIS® pulls data for every taxonomy from the lowest level employee to the highest level licensed professional.

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Oncologist Falsified Data on Research Once Described as "Holy Grail" of Cancer Treatment

The Health Law Firm

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law Back in 2006, Anil Potti, a cancer researcher at Duke University, claimed to identify genetic markers that would allow customized treatment for cancer patients based on the types of tumors they had. Several reports from Potti and his team claimed it could predict a patient's response to chemotherapy with up to 90 percent accuracy.

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