Health Care Industry | The Health Law Firm Blog

Medical Negligence – An Accidental Overdose of Prescription Pain Pills Can Lead to Lawsuits

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law and Carole C. Schriefer, R.N., J.D., The Health Law Firm

In February 2009, a 30-year-old male patient was prescribed, all together, 180 pills of Dilaudid and Xanax from a South Florida pain clinic. Sometime within the next 24 hours the patient died of what medical examiners ruled an overdose. According to the American Association for Justice, the patient’s family then sued the pain management clinic alleging the clinic’s physician prescribed a lethal overdose of the drugs and the defendant was liable for damages resulting from the patient’s murder. In the lawsuit, the jury […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:46-04:00June 1, 2018|Administrative law, Health Care Industry, Pain Management, Pharmaceutical Drugs, The Health Law Firm Blog|

Supreme Court Rules that Government Regulators Can Sue Over Pay-for-Delay Agreements Between Brand and Generic Drug Manufacturers

George F. Indest III, Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

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

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 17, 2013, that pay-for-delay agreements between brand name and generic drug manufacturers are subject to anti-trust scrutiny. These pay-for-delay agreements, or reverse payments, are usually a form of settlement between the two manufacturers in patent litigation. The Supreme Court decided that each instance must be considered on a case-by-case basis. This verdict rewrites the rules governing the release of generic drugs. It is […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:49-04:00June 1, 2018|Appeal, Health Care Industry, In the Know, In the News, Pharmaceutical Drugs, Pharmacy, The Health Law Firm Blog|

Texas Oncologist Accused of Poisoning Coworker/Boyfriend’s Coffee

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

A Houston, Texas, doctor is accused of spiking her co-worker’s coffee with a toxic chemical. Both the female doctor and the male co-worker she allegedly tried to poison worked as oncologists at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. It’s reported the two were also dating at the time of the incident. The female oncologist was allegedly arrested on May 29, 2013, and charged with aggravated assault, according to ABC News.

Click here to read the ABC News article.

I’d like to point out that these are just allegations made against the female oncologist […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:49-04:00June 1, 2018|Health Care Industry, In the Know, In the News, The Health Law Firm Blog|

Department of Justice Seeks up to $600 Million in Whistleblower Case Against Halifax Health in Daytona Beach, Florida

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

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is asking for between $350 million and $600 million in damages and penalties from Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach, according to The Daytona Beach News-Journal. A Halifax employee filed the whistleblower lawsuit in 2009, accusing the hospital of illegal kickbacks to doctors, improper admissions and unnecessary spinal surgeries. The DOJ joined the case in 2011. Click here to read a previous blog on the DOJ joining the lawsuit.

If the government wins this case, it would amount to the largest whistleblower case of its kind in […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:48-04:00June 1, 2018|Health Care Industry, In the News, Medicare, Medicare Fraud, The Health Law Firm Blog, Whistleblower|

The Affordable Care Act Offers the Government New Tools to Fight Healthcare Fraud

By Catherine T. Hollis, J.D., The Health Law Firm

In 2013, the government reported recovery of a record-breaking $10.7 billion in healthcare fraud in the past three years, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The HHS credits the Affordable Care Act’s tough stance on fraud for improving the efforts to fight Medicare fraud.

The increase in fraud recovery is attributed in part to the Act’s proactive approach to preventing fraud. The Act contains several initiatives that address Medicare fraud, resulting in increased fraud-fighting tools available to the government. The joint effort between the HHS, the DOJ and the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team has been a primary […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:48-04:00June 1, 2018|Health Care Industry, In the Know, Medicare, Medicare Fraud, The Health Law Firm Blog|

Internal Revenue Service Decides Electronic Health Record Incentive Payments are Taxable

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

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has taken the position that electronic health record (EHR) incentive payments are taxable. Previously it was not specified how EHR incentive payments were to be treated or reported to the IRS. On January 14, 2013, the IRS issued guidance on this issue in a memorandum from the Office of Chief Counsel. This memorandum lists tax issues facing those who have received or who will receive EHR incentive payments. It also states the IRS’s position on those issues.

IRS Considered Three Different Issues and Gave its Stance on […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:48-04:00June 1, 2018|Electronic Health Record, Health Care Industry, IRS, The Health Law Firm Blog|

Strike Force Busts 89 People, Mostly Health Care Professionals, in Nationwide Crackdown on Medicare Fraud

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

In a nationwide takedown nearly 100 people, including doctors, nurses and other medical professionals, in eight cities were all allegedly charged in separate Medicare fraud schemes. These individual scams involved approximately $223 million in false billing, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Health and Humans Services (DHHS). On May 14, 2013, more than 400 law enforcement officials with the Medicare Fraud Strike Force spread out between Miami, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, New Orleans, Houston, Chicago and Tampa to make the arrests of these 89 people, according to the […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:48-04:00June 1, 2018|Health Care Industry, Medicare, Medicare Fraud, The Health Law Firm Blog|

Two Separate Lawsuits Against Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation Allege Illegal Kickbacks and False Claims

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

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NPC) is currently fielding two different lawsuits, filed just days apart from each other, by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The first lawsuit was filed on April 23, 2013, alleging the company gave illegal kickbacks to pharmacists. A second lawsuit was filed on April 26, 2013, alleging illegal kickbacks were paid by NPC to health care providers. According to the DOJ, the government’s complaint seeks damages and civil penalties under the False Claims Act, and under the common law for paying kickbacks to doctors to induce them to prescribe NPC products […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:48-04:00June 1, 2018|Health Care Industry, In the News, Medicare, Medicare Fraud, The Health Law Firm Blog, Whistleblower|

American Medical Association Joins Minnesota Medical Staff in Its Fight for Autonomy

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

The American Medical Association (AMA) and several other physician organizations announced support of a court appeal by physicians at Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center in Minnesota. The medical staff at Avera alleged the hospital’s governing board amended the medical staff’s bylaws and took away the medical staff’s right to self-govern. On February 6, 2013, the AMA, the Minnesota Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Osteopathic Association and the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the hospital’s medical staff.

Click here to read the press release from […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:48-04:00June 1, 2018|Appeal, Health Care Industry, The Health Law Firm Blog|

Healthcare Providers Service Organization (HPSO) Attorneys, Lawyers and Defense Council in Florida

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

Often we learn after the fact that a health professional such as a mental health counselor, psychologist, or pharmacist has received Healthcare Providers Service Organization (HPSO) insurance, has had a legal problem, and has not been able to locate an attorney or law firm that accepts this type of insurance. We have offices in Florida and Colorado, but we have attorneys licensed in Florida, Colorado, Louisiana, the District of Columbia, Virginia and other states.

Additionally, we can provide legal advice and representation in license investigations and administrative proceedings in many other states.

If you have HPSO […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:47-04:00June 1, 2018|Administrative law, Health Care Industry, Healthcare Providers Service Organization (HPSO), Insurance, Licensing issues, The Health Law Firm Blog|