About The Health Law Firm

The Health Law Firm concentrates on representing health care providers. Our health law attorneys and paralegals have decades of experience in the legal and health care fields. Our health law attorneys include those Board Certified in Health Law, Masters degree trained, former hospital counsel and licensed health care professionals. Our clients include physicians, dentists, nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, medical students, nursing homes, home health agencies, hospitals, health insurers, medical groups, durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers, and other health care providers.
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Florida Pharmacy Sues Claiming HHS Wrongly Terminated it From Federal PrEP Program

Attorney and Author George F. Indest III HeadshotBy George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law
On March 25, 2024, a pharmacy in Celebration, Florida, alleged HHS abruptly terminated it from a federal program that provides free access to preexposure prophylaxis HIV-prevention (PrEP) medication. Turner Brothers Inc., which does business as Turner Drugs, filed a motion in its lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction.  In the motion, Turner Drugs asked a D.C. federal judge to force the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and two contractors to reinstate it to […]
By |2024-04-09T13:24:25-04:00April 30, 2024|The Health Law Firm Blog|
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Florida Man Pleads Guilty To $36.2 Million Telehealth Medicare Fraud Scheme

Attorney and Author George F. Indest III HeadshotBy George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

On March 20th, 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in the Middle District of Florida, announced that a Florida man pled guilty to conspiring to commit health care fraud in a $36.2 million telemedicine fraud scheme. As part of the scheme, the Fort Lauderdale-based pharmacy owner paid kickbacks and bribes to telemarketers and telemedicine providers for medically unnecessary prescriptions that were billed to Medicare.

Kickbacks & Bribes to Telemarketing Companies.

According to the plea agreement, the Fort Lauderdale-based, Florida man and his co-conspirators owned and operated pharmacies participating in the Medicare program. […]

By |2024-04-08T13:46:37-04:00April 29, 2024|Health Facilities Law Blog, Pharmacy Law Blog|
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Massage Therapists-You MUST Obtain License Complaint Defense Coverage Insurance

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

I am often called on to represent massage therapists accused of sexually molesting a client during the course of the massage or for offering sex to an undercover agent. Most often, this type of case comes to us from a complaint filed with the Department of Health, the umbrella agency over the Board of Massage Therapy. Often the complaint is a made-up one or is based on mistaken identity or an incorrect perception on the part of the customer.

The tragic part of this story is that often, the case could be defended and the charges against […]

By |2024-04-26T20:00:02-04:00April 28, 2024|Massage Law Blog|
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Feds Charge 25 Individuals in Massive Fake Nursing Diploma Scheme in Florida

Author HeadshotBy George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

On January 25, 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) launched a multi-state coordinated law enforcement action to apprehend individuals engaged in a scheme to sell false and fraudulent nursing degree diplomas and transcripts. The enforcement action resulted in the execution of search warrants in Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Texas, and Florida. 25 individuals have been charged in the Southern District of Florida for their alleged participation in a fraud scheme that created an illegal licensing and employment shortcut for aspiring nurses.

The defendants include “owners, operators, and […]

By |2024-04-22T20:02:16-04:00April 24, 2024|In the News, Nursing Law Blog|
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University of Colorado Sued For Denying COVID-19 Vaccine Religious Exemptions

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

On September 29, 2021, a pediatrician and medical student sued the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (CU) for denying COVID vaccine religious exemptions. The U.S. District Court lawsuit argued that school administrators judge the validity of personal religious beliefs in violation of the First Amendment.

Religious Exception For COVID Vaccine.

Both plaintiffs are challenging the denial of their requests for religious exemptions from the school’s COVID vaccination mandate. The lawsuit alleges that the university arbitrarily grants religious exemptions to its vaccine requirement for all staff and students. It also claims that CU is approving requests that are […]

By |2024-04-21T20:00:11-04:00April 23, 2024|Medical Education Law Blog|
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Texas Hospital’s COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Upheld by Federal Court

George Indest HeadshotBy George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., is Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

As some states lift COVID-19 restrictions, the business community is still grappling with the dynamic between the COVID-19 vaccine and workplace operations. To address this, some U.S. employers have elected to adopt mandatory vaccination policies. These policies, in essence, require that, subject to a few exceptions, all employees must receive the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of continued employment.

Not surprisingly, we see various legal challenges to mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies across the country. On June 12, 2021, a federal court in Texas became the first to rule on the permissibility of such policies […]

By |2024-07-30T09:42:43-04:00April 23, 2024|Pharmacy Law Blog|
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Dental Office Manager Sentenced to 12 Months in Prison for Defrauding Medicaid Out of More Than $813,000

Attorney Carole C. Schriefer Headshot

By Carole C. Schriefer, J.D.

On October 1, 2021, a former dental office manager was sentenced to 12 months in prison for her role in a Medicaid fraud scheme. Mahsa Azimirad, was the office manager for Universal Smiles, a D.C.-based dental practice, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Washington, D.C.

She was indicted in January 2019, along with the dentist who ran the practice. The dentist pleaded guilty in May 2021 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and reportedly admitted that she received over $813,000 through false billings.


The Fraudulent Billing Scheme.

Both the office manager and the dentist were alleged to have participated in a scheme […]

By |2024-04-21T20:00:09-04:00April 23, 2024|Dental Law Blog|
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New Jersey Appeals Court Says Plaintiffs Don’t Need Presuit Affidavits to Sue LPNs in Medical Malpractice Cases

Author and Attorney HeadshotBy George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

In a possibly precedent-setting case, on November 9, 2022, for the first time, an appeals court in New Jersey ruled that plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases do not need an affidavit of merit to file claims against a licensed practical nurse (LPNs). The Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, said that an LPN is not included in the “licensed person” definition under the state’s affidavit of merit statute.

Additionally, the court’s ruling stated that an LPN could not use the absence of such an affidavit to avoid a medical malpractice suit. In this […]

By |2024-04-17T20:00:38-04:00April 19, 2024|Nursing Law Blog|
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Walgreens Accused of Providing Insufficient COBRA Notices, Class Action Lawsuit Says

Lawyer, Author HeadshotBy George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

On November 30, 2022, a group of former Walgreens workers filed a proposed class action in Florida federal court that accuses the pharmacy chain of sending confusing, incomplete COBRA notices. The former employees sued, saying the company purposely sent former employees “haphazard and piecemeal” information about their rights to continued insurance coverage under the federal COBRA law to save itself money.

As a result, the lawsuit claims, they lost access to their medical coverage when they were terminated and, therefore, had to pay out-of-pocket to cover medical expenses.

Details of the Class Action.

The plaintiffs filed the […]

By |2024-07-30T09:46:28-04:00April 19, 2024|Pharmacy Law Blog|
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Male Surgeon Wins $15 Million Verdict in Suit Based on “Reverse Discrimination” and Anti-Male Bias;  Hospital Requests New Trial

Attorney and Author George F. Indest III HeadshotBy George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law and Hartley Brooks, Law Clerk, The Health Law Firm
In a massive jury verdict awarding a male attending physician more than he requested, a jury found that a hospital demonstrated reverse discrimination and an anti-mail bias in how it handled a female resident physician’s complaint against him.
On January 8, 2024, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital urged a Pennsylvania Federal court to reverse a $15 million judgment against it over its handling of a sexual assault investigation in a gender bias case. In December 2023, a federal jury in the U.S. […]
By |2024-03-14T09:59:08-04:00April 16, 2024|Dental Law Blog, Nursing Law Blog|
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“The Health Law Firm” is a registered fictitious business name of George F. Indest III, P.A.
The Health Law Firm, a Florida professional service corporation, since 1999.
Copyright © 2024 The Health Law Firm. All rights reserved.
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